Eight Philippine government agencies have formed an inter-agency task force that will fight drug smuggling and related illegal activities at the country’s airports.
On September 14, the agencies signed a memorandum of agreement on the creation and operation of the Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (Airport-IADITG) which will operate in airports under the control of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). The authority administers 82 airports, of which 42 handle commercial flight operations.
Five more airports in the country have a separate authority outside CAAP. These are the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Clark International Airport, Cebu-Mactan International Airport, Subic, and Poro Point International Airport.
The newly formed IADITG is composed of representatives from CAAP, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Office of Transportation Security (OTS), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Department of Justice (DOJ), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (PNP-ASG).
The MOA will implement provisions of Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Signatories to the MOA will coordinate their efforts in preventing the entry and exit of illegal drugs, drug precursors and essential chemicals through the airports by providing support to the airport IADITG.
Present during the signing ceremonies were PDEA director general Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac, Jr., CAAP director general Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III, OTS representative Roberto Villanueva, DOJ prosecutor-general Atty. Claro Arellano, NBI representative Atty. Joel Tuvera, and PNP-ASG chief Gen. Francisco Balagtas.
