the now defunct Cable News , I covered the case in March 1986 where a young man ’ s body was found stabbed 40 times . His head was found in another village . Arrested , tried and convicted for this gruesome crime was one Irvin Ibanez . It happened after a night of drinking in which the horseplay clearly got way too rough . The jury convicted Ibanez of aggravated murder , kidnapping and possession and use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony .

After also being sentenced for being part of a quartet of inmates that killed a DOC prison guard and set his body on fire , Ibanez is now serving his life sentence in the federal supermax prison in Florence , Colorado . Fellow inmates include El Chapo , the infamous Mexican drug cartel kingpin , unabomber Ted Kaczynski , and two of the World Trade Center bombers .

Thirty-five years later , one Donovan Allan Chargualaf Ornellas has been arrested and charged with beheading 51-year-old Andrew Ray Castro . Ornellas reportedly told police that he had used crystal meth while with Castro . News reports say Ornellas told police he felt compelled to kill the wheelchair-bound Castro , who he claimed had endangered his family . No explanation was reported as to why Ornellas cut off his victim ’ s head . He recently pleaded not guilty by reason of mental defect .

We already know that addiction to crystal meth causes people to commit crimes such as burglary , robbery , theft and human trafficking , etc . They need money to get their fix .

One would imagine though that it would take some doing to cut off another person ’ s head . It ’ s not like you could claim that the knife just slipped .

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On the other hand , forcing a minor to engage in a sexual act , either as payment for a drug fix or because you owe someone

for drugs - or for any reason , for that matter - is a different kind of evil . Not to mention the dealer that says , “ Yeah , ok , I ’ ll have sex with your ( daughter , son , niece , nephew , cousin , friend , whoever ) as payment for your fix .” Like the person is a piece of meat . That kind of thinking should just rocket you to hell .

Yet here we are . These crimes are happening in our beautiful tropical paradise . Only some things are not so beautiful if you look beneath the surface , are they ?

So the question for those of us appalled by this latest episode of drug-induced heinousness is : How much more do we put up with regarding the importation and sale of this clearly damaging drug into our community , and the addiction to it by a growing number of our population ?

Fighting drug abuse takes a community effort . In a recent online newspaper poll issued after the Castro beheading , over 90 percent of the people who responded clicked that they are “ very concerned ” about the drug related crimes happening on our island .

Really ? If you are so concerned , then prove it .

If someone you know is dealing drugs , are you looking the other way because you or someone else that you know or care about is benefitting from the profits from the sale of those drugs ? Or because you think it ’ s none of your business ?

Back when I was teaching an English course at Guam Community College , I assigned my students to interview a friend or acquaintance about something important in the person ’ s life and then write about it . One student interviewed a former drug dealer who had gotten out of the business because he feared he was close to getting arrested . I asked my student if he had asked his subject how he felt about selling a product that was destroying people ’ s lives .

The student looked at me , clearly

shocked . “ Gosh miss , that ’ s such a personal question !”

It was indeed a tough , but legitimate , question , I told the student . I wouldn ’ t take off points if he didn ’ t ask it , but I told him it would make his paper a much more compelling read . After all , the whole idea was to write an interesting profile of someone .

He came back two days later and said , “ Miss , I asked the question .”

“ Well , what did he say ?”

The student explained to me that his subject was initially mad . But then he revealed that no one around him ever complained about the dope money he was bringing in . They just never asked where it was coming from . The interviewee told my student that when he quit the business , those close to him were displeased that he wasn ’ t bringing in so much money any more .

Is the money really worth it ? Is it worth looking the other way , knowing that you are taking part in a nefarious business that can permanently damage

If someone you know is dealing drugs , are you looking the other way because you or someone else that you know or care about is benefitting from the profits from the sale of those drugs ? Or because you think it ’ s none of your business ?

someone else ’ s life — or the lives of those around them ?

Asking dealers this question is a moot point , because they ’ ve already made peace with selling their souls to the devil .

But what if your son or daughter , or one or more of their friends , or someone else that you care about ends up hooked ? Because the drug trade works like any other business . In order to be profitable , you have to keep increasing your clientele . Sooner or later it will come back around to you , in one way or another .

Ti mamaigo ’ si Yu ’ os , as the Chamorus say .

If you are really concerned about what the drug problem is doing to our community , then turn in a drug dealer . Either call the local police at 472-8911 or the feds at 472-7332 .

Jayne Flores is the director of the Bureau of Women ’ s Affairs and a longtime journalist . Contact her at jayneflores59 @ gmail . com .