Customs’ amnesty program flops

Nobody is apparently paying attention to that little box sitting for almost seven years now at one corner of the Saipan International Airport’s arrival area, just before the place where the Customs’ clearance section is situated.

It may be because nobody is aware that it has been there for several years now or nobody really understands what that “amnesty box” is for.

There was never a time — since the amnesty box was placed by the CNMI Division of Customs at the arrival area of the Saipan International Airport about seven years ago — did officers find anything inside the box dropped by arriving passengers, according to Director Joe Mafnas.

“We don’t know if it is just being ignored or nobody really notices its existence there, or the word amnesty is just too vague that may need further explanation,” Mr. Mafnas told reporters in an interview yesterday.

But he also raised the possibility that people were just afraid that they might get prosecuted once caught by a customs officer while in the act of dropping a contraband like prohibited drugs, medicines or weapons in the box.

“Quite frankly, we find more drugs inside the restroom at the arrival area than in the box,” Mr. Mafnas said, which strengthens suspicions that people are merely scared of prosecution should they be caught dropping an illegal item in the amnesty box.

The customs chief pointed out, however, that the basic reason why the box was placed at the airport, in the first place, was to give Saipan-bound passengers the chance to dispose of illegal items before they pass through the Customs clearance section.

“They will not be subject to any arrest or prosecution even if the officers see them drop anything in there. They may really be having second thoughts about getting arrested or prosecuted and they don’t want to take a chance,” he added.

But Mr. Mafnas maintained that people should be taking advantage of the amnesty box because it literally gives them the chance to get rid of illegal items they would like to sneak into the CNMI without the authorities running after them.

Also counting the possibility that a big number of Saipan-bound passengers are non-English speaking individuals that contribute to the little understanding of the box, the Customs Division recently put up signs written in Japanese, Korean and Chinese languages.

At the same time, Mr. Mafnas said heightened campaign by the customs division against the entry of illegal items into the Northern Marianas has discouraged unscrupulous individuals from bringing in contrabands into the islands.

“The fact that nothing has been dropped in the box since it was placed there, and considering the current street value of ice in the CNMI, we could safely say that we are, indeed, making an effort in the entry of illegal drugs here,” he said.

Current street value of ice in the Northern Marianas is between $500 and $600 per gram while the highly-prohibited substance can be purchased at only about $100 per gram in other places in Asia and the Pacific.

“Street value for ice in the CNMI is still very high whereas in other places it goes down to a hundred per gram which means there’s not too much supply on the islands,” Mr. Mafnas told reporters.

He disclosed inspections have been tightened at all three airports in the CNMI based on reports that unprocessed ice are now being imported into the neighboring U.S. Territory of Guam. “This necessitates us to take more precautionary measures.”