EDITORIAL - 5th in the world

Here is another dubious distinction for the Philippines: from 1998 to 2007, the country ranked fifth in the world in the amount of shabu confiscated, according to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime. The UNODC, in its 2009 World Drug Report, noted that in this area, the Philippines ranked only behind China and the United States, which have considerably larger populations, and Thailand and Taiwan.

The positive point here is that shabu, or methamphetamine hydrochloride, is being seized by authorities. But this does not dispel the fact that shabu is being manufactured in large quantities in this country, which has become a major shabu exporter and transshipment point for the international drug trafficking industry. The UNODC report noted that Philippine-made shabu is shipped to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US. “Manufacture often occurs in industrial-sized laboratories operated by transnational organized crime with most chemists being foreign nationals,” the report said.

Anti-narcotics units conduct regular raids on such laboratories nationwide. So why does the illegal industry continue to flourish? Shabu trafficking is hugely profitable, and manufacturers have the means to buy protection from law enforcement agencies. How many of the actual operators of shabu laboratories have been arrested in raids? Only janitors and security guards are the ones usually caught, indicating that the operators are tipped off by their protectors.

The rare times that drug dealers themselves are arrested and prosecuted, they can buy their freedom through corrupt jail guards, prosecutors, judges and immigration officers. Their release is also facilitated by the technical lapses committed by anti-narcotics agents who are poorly trained in conducting legitimate raids, searches, seizures and arrests. Such lapses can be used as a valid excuse for the dismissal of cases by corrupt prosecutors or judges.

All these problems can be addressed, given the political will and resources. But these problems have been around for many years, and the illegal drug trade continues to thrive despite the fact that the Philippines has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. Fighting the drug menace takes more than piling up confiscated evidence. More importantly, drug traffickers must be caught, prosecuted and punished.