House backs CNMI task force for ‘war on ice’

Members of the House of Representatives voted unanimously to support a resolution for the creation of a multi-agency anti-crime task force to combat the proliferation of methamphetamine or “ice” in the Commonwealth.

House Joint Resolution 19-05 was adopted Friday with all present members of the House voting “yes” to the resolution.

HJR 19-05 requests Gov. Eloy S. Inos to create the “Interagency Financial Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force,” which aims to reduce the “illegal drug supply in the Commonwealth by disrupting and dismantling the most significant drug trafficking organizations and their related money laundering operations.”

The proposed task force will focus on “coordinated, multi-jurisdictional investigations against drug networks.”

The participating agencies will include the Department of Public Safety, Department of Finance (Division of Customs), the Judiciary, the Office of the Attorney General, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., and the Community and Guidance Center.

One advantage seen in the creation of the task force is that the agencies can conduct “close sharing of intelligence and information and targeting specific interisland and cross-border offenders.”

HJR 19-05 was introduced by Rep. Antonio P. Sablan (Ind-Saipan).

Other lawmakers have introduced measures to battle the proliferation of “ice.”

Sen. Sixto Igisomar (R-Saipan) has initiated a campaign against illegal drugs and introduced several bills, one of which is to freeze the assets of convicted distributors of illegal drugs, particularly that of “ice,” another imposes heavier penalties on drug peddlers.

Rep. Edwin K. Propst (Ind-Saipan) earlier introduced a bill to allocate $300,000 to the DPS and the Department of Finance to supplement the drug enforcement efforts of the two agencies.

House Bill 19-48 proposes that the additional funds come from the Commonwealth Alien Deportation Fund, created under Public Law 10-01.

Propst earlier said the use of crystal methamphetamine or “ice” continues to be a growing problem in the CNMI, reaching “epidemic proportions within our villages and borders.”

According to Propst’s proposed bill, $200,000 will be allocated to the Special Operations Section (narcotics unit) of the Commonwealth Bureau of Investigation, a sub-agency under the DPS.

The proposed fund is expected to be used for intelligence operations such as confidential informant services, evidence, and information, as well as technical equipment, including field drug identification kits.