Busted

A US Navy Officer has committed suicide over a no drug drug bust.

A U.S. Navy officer jumped to his death at Manila's airport after he was arrested with what was thought to be cocaine, Philippine officials said Tuesday, but tests later showed the white powder wasn't an illegal drug.

Lt. Cmdr. Scintar Buenviaje Mejia died of head injuries after jumping from a second-floor staircase Monday while a security guard escorted him to the bathroom, aviation police chief Pedro Desuasido said.

The 35-year-old Mejia, a U.S. citizen of Filipino descent, was arrested a day earlier at an airport X-ray machine after security officials found a plastic packet containing what was suspected to be cocaine in his bag, Desuasido said. He was about to board a flight to Los Angeles.

Desuasido said Mejia shouted and threw the packet at security officials. He denied the packet was his and claimed he was set up.

That is always a problem with status crimes like drug possession. You are effectively guilty until proven innocent. And all it takes is a police officer who takes a dislike to you.

Mexico has a different problem. The police there are getting the very short end of the stick. American drug prohibition is very hard on the Mexican police.

The last remaining police officer in the Mexican border town of Guadalupe has disappeared, and prosecutors in northern Chihuahua state said Tuesday they have started a search for her.

Twenty-eight-year-old officer Ericka Gandara held out despite the desertions and resignations that left her as the only officer in the Juarez Valley town, which was served by eight police a year ago.

But Gandara hasn't been seen since Dec. 23. While some local media have reported Gandara was kidnapped, prosecutors' spokesman Arturo Sandoval said her relatives have not filed a kidnap complaint.

Sandoval said the search was started Monday as a missing-person case.

The same day she disappeared, assailants also set fire to the home of a Guadalupe town councilwoman.

The Sinaloa and Juarez drug cartels have been battling for control of the Juarez Valley, leading many residents to flee across the border to Texas or to other Mexican cities.

All my prohibitionist friends need to get together and yell continuously at the top of their lungs, "It can't happen here." It may be utopianism but the energy expended in shouting makes sleep come easier. Which is all to the good. If you don't count what has likely happened to Ericka Gandara.

And another question for my prohibitionist friends: were the alcohol wars of the 1920s caused by a desire for alcohol or a desire for prohibition? Which appetite is it easier for society to abandon? Clue: alcohol is still with us. Alcohol prohibition is not.

Cross Posted at Classical Values