{"id":384418,"date":"2023-01-31T06:06:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T20:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=384418"},"modified":"2023-01-31T06:06:24","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T20:06:24","slug":"314k-worth-of-ice-seized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/314k-worth-of-ice-seized\/","title":{"rendered":"$314K worth of \u2018ice\u2019 seized"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
CNMI Division of Customs and Biosecurity director Jose C. \u00a0Mafnas, third from left, tells during a news briefing yesterday how Customs officers intercepted 1,048 grams (2.13 lbs) of crystal methamphetamine or \u201cice\u201d from a package at the U.S. Postal Service in Chalan Kanoa last Thursday. Also in the press briefing, from left, are Customs planner and public information officer Reina C. Camacho, Department of Public Safety assistant chief of police Lawrence Camacho, and acting Department of Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita. Inset shows the seized package. (FERDIE DE LA TORRE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CNMI Customs officers have arrested a man who allegedly picked up a package containing 1,048 grams of crystal methamphetamine or \u201cice\u201d with a total street value of $314,400, at the U.S. Postal Service in Chalan Kanoa last Thursday.<\/p>\n

At a press conference yesterday, CNMI Customs Biodiversity director Jose C. Mafnas said a Chinese male national who tried to pick up the package and admitted to being its recipient was arrested and that local and federal law enforcers are investigating further.<\/p>\n

Mafnas said that Customs officers discovered during a routine inspection at the U.S. Postal Service last Thursday 1,048 grams or 2.2 lbs of crystal methamphetamine that was rolled in a towel and concealed in a package.<\/p>\n

He said the suspect, a male Chinese national in his mid-40s, was there to pick up the package and immediately arrested after the discovery of the \u201cice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mafnas said he does not have more information about the suspect, aside from saying that the package had just come from California.<\/p>\n

Acting Finance secretary Tracy B. Norita, who was also present at the news briefing at the Customs Biosecurity office at the seaport, praised the Division of Customs and their partners with the Department of Public Safety and Drug Enforcement Administration for a \u201cjob well done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDrugs that enter our ports end up in our communities and in our homes, and it\u2019s because of these law enforcement officers that we keep drugs off our streets. So we are very grateful for their service to our community,\u201d Norita said.<\/p>\n

DPS assistant chief of police Lawrence Camacho said this is good news for the community as the illegal drugs were intercepted in the CNMI\u2019s front door before it could come in and harm the community.<\/p>\n

Camacho said DPS has been a long-time law enforcement partner with Customs against illegal drugs.<\/p>\n

Mafnas said the Division of Customs Biosecurity, with the blessing of Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang and the Department of Finance, are committed to establishing a strong partnership with local and federal law enforcement agencies, and to its many partners and stakeholders in the community, both business and private.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis interception\u2026serves as a reminder of the ongoing efforts to combat the illegal flow of drugs and other contraband into the CNMI,\u201d Mafnas said.<\/p>\n

He said he is grateful and appreciate the assistance of DPS, DEA, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspector Service for assisting them in this matter.<\/p>\n

Mafnas said it was a routine inspection for Customs officers at the post office on all packages going out both for tax purposes and enforcement. \u201cAnd so when this person was called in to the table for inspection, that\u2019s when the officers discovered these drugs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mafnas said the 2.2 lbs of \u201cice,\u201d along with four other lbs of \u201cice\u201d that were also seized recently by Customs officers, were given to DEA to be sent to an off-island laboratory for further testing.<\/p>\n

Mafnas said the final targeted destination of the \u201cice\u201d that was seized Thursday is the CNMI, where it is the drug of choice on the islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we can stop [the smuggling] and have all the users treated or cured so the demand for these dangerous drugs is over or ceased. Right now, it\u2019s still a drug of choice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mafnas said they are vigilant and still building capacities to ensure that CNMI borders\u2014airports and seaports, and post office\u2014are safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try our very best to prevent these drugs or any contraband from entering the CNMI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CNMI Customs officers have arrested a man who allegedly picked up a package containing 1,048…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":384420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-384418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384418","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\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}