In March 288lbs of banned medicines seized
Unauthorized pharmaceuticals confiscated by airport officials from people arriving by plane to the CNMI jumped 85 percent to 288 pounds in March from just 155 pounds in February.
Captain Greg M. Sablan, Jr., customs airport manager, said about 90 percent of the contraband was seized from Chinese nationals coming into the Commonwealth.
“A majority of the seized items had Chinese lettering on them. The Chinese nationals who we took the medicines from seem to have no idea what they were bringing in was illegal,” Captain Sablan said.
He said a fare number of people were surprised and even cried when told that the cache of medicine they were carrying would have to be taken from them.
When asked what the medicines were for, some of them gestured that they were for the common headache and stomach ache, Captain Sablan added.
The other 10 percent, the custom official said, were confiscated from Filipino and South Korean nationals.
The custom official also said that some people caught “smuggling” the unauthorized medicine carried with them one-year supply of the products, which were mostly in tablet and capsule form.
In February, custom agents confiscated only 155 pounds of illegal medicine from people planing into the CNMI.
According to Captain Sablan, the increase in seized items last month was probably caused by the 31-day calendar of March, compared to February’s 28-day calendar.
However, he also noted that the 85 percent rise in seized contraband was due to the higher volume of replacement workers coming into the CNMI.
Under Public Law 11-40, pharmaceuticals with no English labels are prohibited from entering the CNMI. However, exemptions are made for people who are bringing pharmaceutical products for their own personal use.
Captain Sablan said, all a person who brought the unauthorized medicine needs to do is present a prescription. This is allowable as long as the volume of the pharmaceutical product does not exceed a 90-day period.
