Gang using Rota as transit point for ice

Customs officials are eyeing the possibility that a syndicate behind intercepted mails containing drugs is using Rota as its transit point.

This, following the apprehension of another mail from Philippines two weeks ago by customs personnel detailed in Rota. A routine inspection conducted by a postal office staff yielded another Christmas musical card containing five grams of Ice.

Customs Director Jose C. Mafnas yesterday disclosed that security measures in Rota Postal Service had been beefed up following the continued arrival of cards from the Philippines since December last year.

During a profiling of letters and custom clearance at the post office, Mr. Mafnas said the suspicious looking mail was immediately set aside. Minutes later, a sniffing dog together with a customs official were called in to determine the contents of the mail.

The mail yielded the prohibited drug with a street price of $5,000 and believed to have originated from the Philippines. The customs director refused to divulge whether the latest apprehended card came from the same sender.

In December and early this year, customs officials discovered mails coming in from the Philippines that contained unregulated drugs like methamphetamine hydrochloride or Ice.

This prompted officials to immediately dispatch K-9 sniffing dogs to detect drugs from incoming cargoes and to determine whether unregulated drugs are being shipped in to Rota.

Asked whether there is a looming possibility that Rota is being used as a transit point, Mr. Mafnas said all angles are being looked into right now and the idea has not been brushed off yet since the arrivals of cards has been signifying a probable presence of a small-scale drug syndicate in the Commonwealth.

To prevent the same incident on Saipan, customs division has also deployed dog handlers and sniffing dogs to Saipan Postal Office to sniff mail boxes and letters arriving on Saipan.

The customs division has stepped up efforts to ensure that drugs won’t be able to enter the Commonwealth adding that sufficient number of custom officials were deployed on Tinian, Rota, and Saipan.

Security of all ports in the Commonwealth will greatly improve as customs unveiled the newly constructed Drug Detector Dog Handler Facility at the airport area.

The $200,000 facility is equipped with the training facility for K-9 sniffing dogs, personnel office and an obstacle course playground for the highly trained dogs.

Mr. Mafnas hopes that with the facility, Northern Marianas will be able to educate more dog handlers in the future since training and professional developments are being provided to custom officers right now.

Presently, the division has nine sniffing dogs and handful of dog handlers dispatched to airports, seaports and other areas to detect presence of illegal drugs.

He pointed out that customs division has been strictly implementing its inspection system, including passengers arriving on Tinian and Rota from Guam, mainly because of reports that Ice is being imported into the neighboring island unprocessed

Reports claimed Saipan is slowly turning into a major importer of crystal methamphetamine with customs division reported to have confiscated over $2.5 million worth of highly-prohibited drugs in 1998 alone.

The report further said that Saipan has been used as entry point for illegal drugs that are smuggled to Hawaii, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, and other areas in the Pacific and the United States.