Cocaine slips past infallible inspectors

Because everyone at the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) seems fixated at looking for bullets in baggage, they forgot to look for a much worse kind of contraband. It seems their eyes are no longer trained to look for anything else but bullets, whether they expect to find some or not. Four Filipino women were arrested in Hong Kong after their baggage yielded 2.5 kilos of cocaine. So the question to the infallible OTS is, how did this much cocaine slip past their supposedly thorough, concise and honest search? Unbelievable.

We have to ask the tough questions. Were the drugs allowed to slip through? Because I really cannot understand how they could miss more than two kilograms of cocaine and be so good with single bullets. What does that say about the OTS? I'm sure the inspectors at Hong Kong are just having a field day talking about all the issues hounding NAIA today, especially the bullet-planting scam.

And where are the drug-sniffing dogs that are also trained to sniff out explosives and ammunition? Were they intentionally pulled out because they would smell the ammunition that the bullet-planters carried? Millions of pesos are invested in these dogs, so why not use them at NAIA? I'm sure the dogs would have easily detected more than two kilos of cocaine.

Because of the outrage over the bullet-planting scam at NAIA, no less than the United Nations has issued warnings to their staff regarding the said scam. The international media has picked up on the story as well, because the number of incidents is really too hard to ignore. That, once again, speaks volumes of the NAIA. It may have gotten itself out of the ten world's worst airport list, but that might not be for long.

The drug and explosive sniffing dogs must be brought back to NAIA, and their handlers must also subject NAIA personnel to the canine inspection. Is it really any wonder that no bullets are detected at the x-ray inspection station upon entering the airport, but then upon entering the pre-departure area, the inspectors suddenly find the ammunition? Are the inspectors at the entry point just less trained than those at the pre-departure area? Why not have a private company with no ties to NAIA do handheld metal detector inspection on those already inside the airport, especially on those who seem to be just walking around? A source has already said that the bullet-planters look for potential victims to plant the ammunition on. That's why we have senior citizens who are accused of having bullets in their bags as they are the easiest to victimize.

We also encourage victims of bullet-planting to raise hell. Demand that nobody touch their bags unless a lawyer or another person of authority outside the airport is present. The bullet should not be handled by anyone, especially by the victim. Call your family, friends and even the Public Assistance Office which has already provided a hotline. Let them know you will put up a fight to protect your innocence. Again, this is no laughing matter.