Losses, some wins in war on drugs

Coincidence or not, the arrest of a Kenyan woman in the Mactan Cebu International Airport for possession of shabu and the death of a former whistleblower tapped in a House inquiry on drug trafficking showed the  success and  failure of the government’s campaign against the drug menace.

The arrest of  24-year-old Asha Atieno Ogutu by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation was made possible through a tip by their central office.

The three-kilo shabu packs found in her suitcase confirmed the sleuthing of the NBI.    It looks like an air-tight case of drug trafficking even as there is concern about  the plight of a young woman, obviously  recruited as a “drug mule,” who ends up in jail in a foreign country with no legal counsel to defend her.

While Ogutu’s arrest is a plus in  the government’s anti-drug campaign, one need only be reminded about a similar arrest of a couple of Chinese tourists who brought in suspected drugs in the Mactan airport, only to  be released quickly, after diplomatic intercession, when the items in question were declared to be “agricultural” chemicals used for growing food crops.

We are reminded anew of pledges by the Capitol to buy drug testing facilities at the airport to expedite the testing of suspected illegal substances.

On the debit side, the death of  whistleblower Bernard Liu, who was found strangled at home in Talisay City, 10 years after his testimony before a Congressional hearing on illegal drugs,  shows just how inadequate and ill-prepared the country’s law enforcement agencies are in securing witnesses before or after a public hearing or trial.

Abroad, witnesses of sensitive cases like drug trafficking, where the rate of reprisal or retaliation is very high, are given new identities and placed under a witness protection program where their movements are monitored and needs are provided by the government.

Sadly this was not the case for Liu, who along with fellow witness Ananias Dy testified against their former employers before an inquiry chaired by then  Cebu City congressman Antonio Cuenco.

The businessmen implicated in shabu trafficking were later cleared. Dy was gunned down by motorcycle-riding gunmen a few years after. Liu’s death, while suspected to be the work of burglars, eerily echoes Dy’s street execution, only the murder was done in the sanctity of his home.

Will  Liu’s death go the same unresolved route as Dy’s murder? And would anyone outside of the victim’s family care  about his gruesome fate?

The war against illegal drugs has its victories and defeats. It’s  up to the government through the cooperation of a vigilant public to make sure that it is winning.