NAIA subjects travelers to body checks

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has taken to inspecting hand-carried luggage and conducting body checks on arriving passengers following reports that travelers smuggle illegal drugs on their persons or in body cavities.

MIAA general manager Alfonso Cusi said an evaluation report reaching his office has pointed to the possibility that airline and cabin crew, aside from engaging in substance abuse, have also become drug couriers.

This was bolstered by a revelation of a retired airline captain, who said several cabin crewmembers were caught using illegal drugs but were not punished after their respective unions intervened.

Cusi said the practice has continued for so long because there are no procedures to check for illegal drugs among airline employees.

Airline Operators Council (AOC) director Leoncio Nakpil, lauded the MIAA’s attempt to screen arriving passengers and crew to body-checks and canine inspection, as well as x-ray machines designed to check drugs at the airport arrival areas.

“However, we appeal to the authorities to observe caution in subjecting arriving airline crew to body checks and inspections, and making sure that they are not unduly harassed,” he said.

MIAA assistant general manager Angel Atutubo allayed Nakpil’s fears, saying the agents go through a three-step process in checking for illegal drugs: random checks, searching certain nationalities or persons for drugs, and using drug-sniffing dogs on “extreme cases.”

However, customs agents at the NAIA said attempts to rein in the entry of drugs through the passenger terminal is only a band-aid solution.

“Most of the bulk of drugs come in via the bonded warehouses, including sea ports,” according to an airport insider who requested anonymity, adding that making the passenger terminal the focus of attention seems an attempt to disguise the truth about the actual source of the illegal drugs entering the country.