Narco celebrities

If you name the persons on a drug watch list before filing criminal charges against them, wouldn’t that alert them to stop or at least lie low, knowing that they’re under surveillance?

Officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which is mandated by law to take the lead in the war on drugs, as well as the Philippine National Police and Department of the Interior and Local Government conceded that this was a risk in naming the 46 politicians on the narco list.

The 46 face administrative charges for negligence, misconduct and other offenses related to the campaign against illegal drugs, but the criminal cases for drug offenses are still being readied.

Philippine drug laws impose harsh penalties, but we all know an accused drug dealer could be long dead (of natural causes) before final judgment is rendered and imprisonment becomes unavoidable.

On the other hand, an administrative case can be resolved relatively quickly and an erring politician can be kicked out of office, even while law enforcers are still building a criminal case against him.

The filing of the administrative charges gave the government an excuse to name those on the list, with the hope that voters will be guided accordingly and reject the candidates. As government officials have admitted, this is the principal goal in naming those on the narco list.

Now what can be gained from publicly identifying “celebrities” who are also on the watch lists of the PDEA and PNP before criminal charges are filed?

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The only explanation I can think of is that most of those on the celebrity list are mere drug users rather than traffickers, so the statement that they might be named is merely a warning for them to stop, or else…

Some of the celebrities were reportedly identified by the PDEA through messages on the cell phone of Steve Pasion, described by lawmen as supplier to the stars of ecstasy and other party drugs. Pasion was killed when he shot it out (video footage showed it) with PDEA agents during a drug sting on March 11 in Sta. Cruz, Manila. Since his death, rumors have swirled that among his clients is one of the country’s highest paid entertainers.

Over the weekend, there was a guessing game on the identities of the “love team” and the other celebrities mostly in their 20s and 30s (as described by PDEA and PNP officials) who are in the watch list.

PDEA and PNP officials have dropped hints that several of those on the list are TV personalities.

Two of the networks declared over the weekend that their talents and employees are subjected to random drug testing. The PDEA responded by seeking the results of the tests. As this could violate privacy laws, the test results are unlikely to be made public.

So people are back to waiting for the PDEA to name the narco celebrities.

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Entertainment personalities have always been among the top customers of drug dealers. Several of the most gifted and world-famous pop music and film stars have been busted or died of drug overdose, in some cases intentional.

So anti-narcotics cops monitor certain entertainers for leads on their drug suppliers.

On Sept. 10, 2016, “drug personality” Aurora Moynihan was found shot dead in Quezon City. She was the 45-year-old daughter of British peer Lord Anthony Moynihan, described in his obituary by the UK’s The Telegraph as “a confidence trickster, brothel keeper, drug-smuggler and police informer.” The baron had fled fraud charges in his country and went to Manila where he married a belly dancer who owned massage parlors. Police said he resumed his previous illegal drug trade and brothel operation in the Philippines.

The body of Aurora Moynihan, sister of actress Maritoni Fernandez, reportedly bore a sign that declared, “pusher to the celebrities, you are next.”

No one knows if the sign referred to Moynihan herself, or her ex-boyfriend who was also shot dead weeks later after what police described as an encounter. The ex-boyfriend, himself a suspected drug dealer, was said to be a “person of interest” in Moynihan’s murder.

Fame can make life surreal, fueling the urge to escape, decompress or indulge in excesses. Celebrities have the money for the expensive habit. And some of them can afford to behave badly; a drug bust can even enhance their mystique and fan appeal.

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In the US and certain other countries, drug abuse is treated mainly as a health problem. Celebrities using drugs undergo rehab; those unable to kick the habit can end up dead.

In our country, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act prescribes “voluntary submission” of a drug dependent to confinement, treatment and rehabilitation for at least six months for possession of less than 50 grams of shabu, less than 500 grams of marijuana, and less than 10 grams of party drugs, cocaine, opium, morphine, heroin, marijuana oil or resin, and drug paraphernalia for individual use. For amounts larger than these, the penalties range from 12 years to life in prison and a minimum fine of P300,000.

But the drug menace is still seen largely as a law enforcement problem. The brutal war on drugs deprived many of the voluntary submission option, probably because there were hardly any rehab facilities available.

Several drug rehab centers have since been opened, but the numbers are still too few.

And there are now whispered concerns that some of the 31 alleged narco celebrities, including those in the mobile phone contacts of Steve Pasion, could also end up dead – and not necessarily from drug overdose.

Lawmen said Pasion reportedly wanted to be known as the Pablo Escobar of the Philippines, and had recorded his sex orgies in his phone.

Pasion’s business was a drop in the bucket compared to Escobar’s at the height of Colombia’s Medellin cartel operations. But when dealing with narcos, whether penny-ante pushers or large-scale traffickers, the drug user is wise to remember the warning about getting up with fleas if you lie down with dogs.

Wiretapping can be authorized by Philippine courts for cases of rebellion, but not for drug trafficking. But if you enjoy getting high, even if only occasionally, bear in mind that there’s always the possibility that the government is watching you, tapping your phone, recording even your intimate moments, and that things you say or do can and will be used against you.

For anyone who is truly on drugs, whether on a narco list or not, it’s always a good idea to kick the habit.