EDITORIAL — Profiling drug couriers just got harder

Police conducting anti-drug operations in Barangay Cabancalan in Mandaue City last Saturday netted the most unlikely of suspects, a 60-year-old grandmother.

Policemen said it was not the first time for her as she was allegedly paid to regularly deliver drugs to clients.

We say she is an unlikely suspect because people her age are supposed to be taking it easy already, playing with their grandchildren and enjoying the rest of their lives, not engaging in the drug business.

On one hand we feel sorry for the grandmother. We don’t know what circumstances led her to do what she did. However, we assume she knew the full consequences of her actions, as people of this age are still possessed of their full discernment and faculties.

But on the other hand we shouldn’t be showing any sympathy or leniency either. Drugs is the bane of the modern age because it warps minds and tears families and entire communities apart. It is the root cause of many violent and senseless crimes.

Anyone who willingly engages in the drug business contributes to the decay of order in any society.

As demonstrated recently when a mother and son tandem was arrested for transporting kilos of drugs in Cebu just last month, those who run the drug business now have no qualms as to whom to hire for their nefarious business. Young or old, anyone from teenagers to doddering seniors, it doesn’t really matter, as long as they are unlikely to be suspected of transporting drugs.

The sad thing about this is that now everyone can become suspect; young or old, anyone from teenagers to doddering seniors can be seen as being a drug courier. That doesn’t narrow the field any one bit; profiling who is likely to be running drugs just got a bit harder.