EDITORIAL - Drugs and smuggling

SHARES
(The Philippine Star) - July 23, 2016 - 12:00am
The drug war is going big-time, with anti-narcotics agents killing the suspected operator of a shabu
manufacturing facility in Valenzuela. Police raiders said Chinese national Meco Tan was shot dead
when he tried to flee in his car during yesterday’s early morning raid.

Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa warned that more large-scale drug traffickers
would fall in the coming days, amid observations that the drug war has so far focused only on small-
scale and mostly low-income street pushers and impoverished drug users.

Video footage of yesterday’s raid showed sacks of suspected shabu precursors and the finished
product piled high at Tan’s home, which also allegedly served as his laboratory. With the large
amount of substances found in that raid, authorities should complement the drug war with tighter
controls on the supply of precursors for prohibited drugs.

The government must be as tough on smugglers as it is on drug pushers. The two criminal activities
feed on each other, and most drug traffickers are engaged in both. In certain cases, prohibited drugs
and precursors are reportedly transferred by traffickers from ships in the high seas to smaller
vessels, which bring the substances to ports or coastal communities where they enjoy the protection
of local government, ports or law enforcement personnel.

Several precursors of prohibited drugs are not banned, but their supply can be monitored and better
regulated. Close monitoring of the supply chain can help anti-narcotics agents zero in on potential
drug manufacturers and traffickers.

Apart from abetting the drug menace, smuggling is bad news for the economy, discouraging fair
competition and therefore investments. The business community has not stopped complaining about
rampant smuggling, which prospers because of corruption and protection provided by influential
individuals.

President Duterte has vowed to “really level the playing field” for business. Making good on his
promise inherently involves a crackdown on smuggling. And if he wants to sustain the gains in his
brutal war on drugs, among the targets must be smugglers and their coddlers.