The Drugs That Got Away: Questions Linger on Multibillion-Peso Drug Shipment

Photo from PDEA Top Stories Facebook page.

THE MONTHS-LONG blame game between the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) over the loss of PHP 6.8 billion—now estimated at PHP 11 billion—worth of shabu (crystal meth) that allegedly slipped past port inspectors appears to be over.

The point of contention was whether magnetic lifters which passed BOC inspection had contained drugs. Then Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña was insisting that the swab test on the four empty magnetic lifters retrieved on August 10 in a Cavite warehouse yielded negative results. But PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino stood by the positive findings of the agency’s K-9 unit and other evidence indicating that the lifters had carried shabu.

During a hearing in the House of Representatives on October 24, Lapeña “backpedaled” on his previous claim. He said he was now inclined to believe that the metal cylinders did contain drugs.

The House and the Senate held several hearings on the issue.  But the media reports contained no information about what government was going to do about locating the multibillion-peso drug shipment, and whether further investigation would be undertaken to find out more about the smuggling of narcotics.

CMFR monitored the top three broadsheets (Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin), four primetime news programs (ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol, GMA-7’s 24 Oras, TV5’s Aksyon and CNN Philippines’ News Night) and selected online news sites from October 18 to 29.

Customs Exec Blows the Whistle

Much earlier, an insider blew the whistle on the case. But the media did not give much importance to the revelations of Atty. Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang when she first testified in a Senate hearing in September 26. Coverage of the issue picked up only in October when the former X-ray inspection chief at the BOC spoke to the media about the failure of Customs personnel to follow inspection protocol on this case. She insisted that the magnetic lifters contained contraband, and accused Lapeña of negligence and incompetence for allegedly disregarding intelligence findings on the drug shipment. TV Patrol first gave airtime on her “expose” on October 18. The Inquirer followed by giving her banner treatment on October 20. 24 Oras and Aksyon gave her airtime on October 22.

The media followed Mangaoang in her appearance in the House hearing on October 24 which was attended by Aquino and other Customs personnel, Lapeña included. But the reports on this hearing focused mainly on the “backpedaling” of the Customs chief, who said he was now inclined to believe that the lifters contained drugs. He conceded when Engr. Toribio Noel Ilao of the Bureau of Equipment of the Department of Public Works and Highways testified that the structure of the lifters could not have been used for the purpose of lifting heavy weights. He also pointed out that these were insulated with material to prevent effective detection by x-rays.

What Now With the Drugs?

This is the third scandal involving smuggled shabu that has embroiled the BOC since Rodrigo Duterte became president. What sets this apart from the first two incidents—the PHP 6.4 billion recovered in a Valenzuela warehouse in May 2017 and the PHP 4.3 billion retrieved from the Manila International Container Port last August 7—is that PHP 11 billion worth of illegal drugs has evaded seizure and has likely made its way to the streets.

Even before Lapeña’s concession, questions on efforts to locate the contraband should have already been raised. Curiously, the police, who are at the forefront of the administration’s war on drugs, have not been included in the coverage. The PNP which is the lead agency in the government’s fight against drugs has not been part of the discussion.

Duterte responded by assigning Lapeña to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority with Cabinet rank, and ordered all top Customs officials and department heads to be placed “on floating status.” The media simply quoted Duterte saying in an October 27 press conference that Lapeña and his predecessor, Nicanor Faeldon, had only been outsmarted by drug smugglers. Reports did not question this as effectively ending the controversy.

The media need to keep close watch on this far from concluded issue. Otherwise, reporters would seem to agree that it is better just to keep killing the drug users rather than fighting the plague at the source.