EDITORIAL - Coordinated battle

Four down, about 70 more to go. That’s the warning that should be issued, in large, bold letters, in Filipino and English, to all Filipinos preparing to visit China. And especially to Filipinos who are planning to bring heavy packages for delivery to strangers in a country with tough drug laws.

Yesterday China executed another Filipino – the fourth this year – for trying to smuggle 1.495 kilos of heroin through Guilin International Airport in September 2008. At least the drug mule did not fly to China from the Philippines but from Malaysia. How 1.495 kilos of prohibited drugs managed to slip out of that Southeast Asian country, which also has some of the world’s most stringent laws against drug trafficking, could be a subject of discussion between Manila and Kuala Lumpur.

Other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations can be brought into the discussions along with China, which appears to be a favorite destination for prohibited drugs, probably because of its huge market. In a few days China is set to start coordinated patrols with Myanmar and Laos along Southeast Asia’s Mekong River, where drug smuggling rings operate. The coordinated patrols were approved after 13 Chinese sailors on two boats were killed on the Mekong in October, within the area called the Golden Triangle – the border of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand where opium poppies are cultivated. The Golden Triangle has long been a major source of opium and its derivatives, heroin and morphine.

Afghanistan is another major producer of opium. Philippine authorities can also tighten cooperation with governments in Central and South Asia in the battle against international drug trafficking. In South America, Filipinos are also being hired as drug mules by the cocaine cartels.

The countries that are the largest sources of prohibited drugs are well known. Huge profits from the illegal drug trade have allowed traffickers to pay off those who are supposed to fight the drug menace. The money has also allowed the drug rings to enlist couriers around the world, including Filipinos. It may take a few more executions in China before Filipinos become sufficiently warned that drug trafficking can earn them the death penalty. In the meantime, the government must intensify its coordination with other countries to fight this menace at its roots.