{"id":316310,"date":"2020-01-24T06:02:43","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T20:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=316310"},"modified":"2020-01-24T06:02:43","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T20:02:43","slug":"481k-worth-of-ice-seized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/481k-worth-of-ice-seized\/","title":{"rendered":"$481K worth of \u2018ice\u2019 seized"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
CNMI Division of Customs director Jose C. Mafna shows the 2.12 lbs of crystal methamphetamine worth $481,000 that Customs seized last Jan. 15. The almost-half-a-million-dollars\u2019 worth of \u201cice\u201d were concealed in 24 silicon tubes inside a \u201cgeneral merchandise\u201d container from China. (IVA MAURIN)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Authorities seized nearly half a million dollars\u2019 worth of drugs that were found concealed in silicon tubes inside a shipping container from China last Jan. 15, Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The drugs\u2014crystal methamphetamine or \u201cice\u201d\u2014were discovered during a routine inspection at the CNMI Division of Customs last week, according to CNMI Customs director Jose C. Mafnas.<\/p>\n

Speaking during a news briefing yesterday at the Office of the Governor conference room, Mafnas said the drugs were hidden inside 24 silicon tubes that were inside a \u201cgeneral merchandise\u201d container from China.<\/p>\n

A field test on the contraband shows them to be presumptive positive for crystal meth, said Mafnas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese were all concealed inside silicon tubes similar to sealants,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The confiscated crystal meth\u2019s total weight is 2.12 lbs and, with the estimated street value of $500 per gram, the total value for the drugs, had it slipped through the ports, is about $481,000. This make it Customs\u2019 biggest bust since 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would have not been a successful interception if it wasn\u2019t for the assistance of our law enforcement partners, the local Drug Enforcement Task Force, DEA, the Division of Quarantine, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigation, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Unit,\u201d Mafnas said.<\/p>\n

Shipped from China<\/strong><\/p>\n

When asked about the consignee, Mafnas said that while Customs has the name, they will not be able to provide any names of businesses or individuals as the investigation is still ongoing. The only information the director gave is that the consignee is a Chinese national, and is not on the island.<\/p>\n

The shipper, on the other hand, according to Mafnas, is known in the law enforcement community due to his drug business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am informed that he [consignee] is banned from entering [the] U.S. He used to live here, is banned from entering the U.S.A. or any territory, so he\u2019s operating his business out of China,\u201d the director said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have his name and, with the partnership of our federal law enforcement\u2026 we can push to inform the Chinese authorities of this person so the China government can do something about it. Just to stop him from conducting his business or sending this kind of stuff over to the CNMI,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s better to stop at the ports\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, who was also at yesterday\u2019s news briefing, said the intercepted contraband explains why Gov. Ralph DLG Torres has identified solving the drug problem in the Commonwealth as a major priority, inclusive of enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Commonwealth community continues to see the tragedies that methamphetamine has done to our people in our community. We still deal with it today. We see families broken up, folks continue that tragedy that continues to beset our community,\u201d said Palacios.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a challenge and it will continue to be a challenge, but today, we want to extend our appreciation to all our enforcement agencies, particularly Customs, DEA, and our local drug enforcement under DPS,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Palacios added had the drugs gone out to the streets and into the communities, addressing the impact would be \u201cexponentially higher.\u201d He highlighted costs of rehabilitation programs and services that are provided to members of the community who have become victims of the drug pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I need to continue to talk about it because we all know what happens if these drugs have gone out to our community. I\u2019m not talking about just the streets. I am talking about families, young people, fathers, and mothers that have been impacted by the scourge of drug addiction in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appreciation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finance Secretary David Atalig joined Palacios and Mafnas in expressing appreciation to Customs and all enforcement officers who were part of the interception.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of our Customs officers, our Customer Services Division, for the hard work of our Customs officers in doing what they need to do, [which] is [to] protect our borders and intercept contrabands like this from the port.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps our community overall,\u201d Atalig said. \u201cLike Director Mafnas mentioned, it is cheaper because we intercepted at the ports. We stopped it. We don\u2019t have to worry about public safety, going out and trying to prevent this from getting further in the street and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Message to drug dealers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mafnas wants drug dealers out there to know that Customs is not alone at the ports. \u201cWe have many law enforcement partners, both with the local and with the federal government law enforcement. We\u2019re not alone. Whenever there\u2019s a target, we call them up to assist us in doing all the inspection. The more, the better enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also appreciate when the concerned private citizen would give a call and say, \u201cI heard about this\u201d\u2026We don\u2019t take that lightly, we take it seriously and take the information and look into it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authorities seized nearly half a million dollars\u2019 worth of drugs that were found concealed in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[169],"class_list":["post-316310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines","tag-china"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}