NAIA anti-drug trafficking preparations weak – report

While the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), like many other airports all over the world, heightens security in light of Osama bin Laden’s death, its preparations to prevent drug trafficking might not be as thorough. GMA News TV's "State of the Nation" on Thursday reported that although NAIA has enough equipment to screen dangerous metals, illegal drugs still manage to pass through the terminal.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Almost 60,000 airline passengers go through NAIA every day – a total of over 20 million passengers a year. Machines, as well as personnel of the Office for Transportation Security, screen the baggage of each passenger at the airport entrance and departure areas. Only ion scan machines can detect illegal drugs. NAIA owns five of these – two in Terminals 1 and 2, and the others damaged. "[Ion scan] machines are switchable — for drugs and explosives," said Jose Mari Castaneda, president of Defense and Protection System Philippines, the supplier of NAIA’s X-ray machines. But with the heightened threat of terrorism, most X-ray machines are programmed to detect explosives, forcing officials responsible for preventing the entry of illegal substances into airports to rely instead on machine operators, behavior detection officers, and K9 units. Some arrivals, the report noted, do not undergo security checks. As a result, the country remains a top transshipment point for drugs in Asia. “Na-profile na tayo, eh. 'Pagka dumaan ka sa ibang bansa, tsine-check ka, sine-separate ka na kaagad," said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. Drug trafficking continues to be a major concern in the country as 88 Filipinos are on the death row in various countries for drug trafficking. In March, three Filipinos were executed in China for drug trafficking. Many people wonder how it was possible for Filipino “drug mules" to bring several kilograms of illegal drugs in and out of NAIA, according to the SONA report. The three screening points in NAIA use X-ray machines that are at par with "international standards" and "can penetrate metal," said Dan Tardecilla of the Office of Transportation Security. ‘Bomb detection’ vs ‘drug detection’ Castaneda said the Heimann X-Ray Inspection System machines that his company had supplied NAIA cannot distinguish between drugs and other organic substances such as explosives. “In terms of drug smuggling, it is really very important for [the airport to get] the ion-scan machine because that’s the only machine that can detect traces of drugs," he explained. The ion-scan machine can detect more than 40 types of explosive and narcotic substances. But it is largely left to the x-ray machine operators’ discretion whether certain passengers’ baggage will go through the ion-scan machine. The report, however, said the ion-scan machines are switched on “bomb detection" mode instead of “drug detention" because the primary concern in airports nowadays is guarding against terrorism. — Bea Cupin/Marlon Anthony Tonson/PE/VS, GMA News