Cebu airport lacks anti-drugs unit

CEBU CITY — Security loopholes at the Mactan Cebu International Airport could allow illegal drugs from abroad to enter Cebu through the airport.

Capt. Hernando Anonas Jr., the sector commander of the Customs Police division at the airport, said no law enforcement unit is monitoring the cargo areas, providing a possible loophole through which illegal drugs may enter.

Airport manager Alfonso Alerre said he is considering the deployment of all of the airport’s four drug-sniffing dogs to every international arrival.

He acknowledged that cargo unloaded from aircraft and moved toward the cargo areas is not being inspected and can in fact be easily diverted.

The drug-sniffing dogs inspect arriving cargo only after it is delivered to the cargo area, not upon unloading from the aircraft.

An airport officer involved in operations also admitted the chance is great that illegal drugs can be smuggled in between the time the aircraft unloads cargo and when the cargo is brought to designated areas.

Still, Alerre insists the greater possibility of drugs being smuggled in is through the port of Cebu and not through the airport.

But even with the creation of an airport Drug Interdiction Unit, Anonas still thinks manpower remains short of the ideal to monitor all cargo entering Cebu through the airport from abroad.

It has been suggested that the entry of illegal drugs can be achieved only through the connivance of airline personnel with government employees. — Freeman News Service