Customs beefs up drive vs. drugs

The CNMI Division of Customs is beefing up its efforts against the entry of illegal drugs into the Northern Marianas by acquiring next month three more K-9 dogs which are highly-trained to detect the presence of prohibited substance in inbound cargoes and luggage.

Customs Director Joe Mafnas said the three K-9 will be in addition to the division’s roster of six highly-trained dogs, expected to further boost the Commonwealth’s fight against the entry of prohibited drugs, as well as other contrabands.

At present, the customs division maintains four K-9 dogs for Saipan, and one each for Tinian and Rota.

Mr. Mafnas did not say which port of entry the three new K-9 dogs will be stationed but he mentioned the possibility that some unscrupulous individuals could be sneaking illegal drugs into the CNMI through Tinian and Rota.

He pointed out that the customs division has been in strict implementation of the 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.

“It is possible that it (Ice) is coming through Tinian and Rota so passengers arriving there are also subject to customs clearance,” Mr. Mafnas told reporters in an interview.

The customs director mentioned that the division needs additional officers to man all CNMI entry points but was quick to point out that the current personnel count could still support the operations and that the K-9 dogs are of significant help.

He also mentioned that the customs division is especially strict on CNMI-bound passengers arriving from high-risk countries, mostly in Asia, although stressing that they are not ruling out those coming from non-high risk countries.

Mr. Mafnas also said that the new customs clearing process is making the work easier for officers. Under the new process, passengers that meet the criteria to go through a second search are asked to pass through another set of inspection.

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

Over six pounds of Ice had been intercepted by alert officers of the customs division at the Saipan International Airport in 1998. That time, average street value of the highly-prohibited drugs is $800 per gram.

Customs has successfully established procedures to inspect passengers and airplanes on all flights transiting through international and domestic airports in the CNMI for drugs or other prohibited substances.

Officials claimed to have received information 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 US.