'Kindness' makes Pinays vulnerable to drug rings

Nigerian drug syndicates have found Filipino women’s "kindness" a vulnerable trait in setting them up as "mules" to transport high-value prohibited substances. Derrick Carreon, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said the Filipino trait of pakikisama [getting-along] proves to be their Achilles’ heel that is being exploited by Nigerian drug syndicates. Carreon said he has heard stories of Filipinos who are asked by strangers, usually good-natured foreigners, to tuck certain packages inside their luggage in exchange for cash or sometimes, even for free. "Because they want to get along, Filipinos are often abused," Carreon told GMANews.TV, "But no amount of money is worth risking one’s life. It will do you a lot of good if you just say no." The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday warned that women fall easy prey to a new modus operandi by Nigerian syndicates that involves drying powdered prohibited drugs into clothes and embedding them into slippers. The DFA issued the warning after a Filipino woman was stranded in Vietnam from Cambodia. According to the DFA, the Filipina sought the assistance of Philippine officials there. She said she failed to bring with her the package for delivery to China, as the Nigerian contact in Cambodia had a miscommunication with the Filipina and the Nigerian contacts in China. The prospective "mule" said the package was a pair of slippers with bulging soles which she was supposed to bring in a bag. "During the Embassy’s interview with the Filipina, it dawned on her that she may have become unknowingly involved in illegal drug trafficking," the DFA said. The Embassy said this may partly explain why some of those caught trafficking drugs claimed they did not know anything about the illegal drugs found in their possession. The Philippine Embassy in Vietnam also learned of incidents where three Filipino women traveled from Manila to Ho Chi Minh City because of an offer by a Nigerian national for these women to “deliver" 5 to 10 pieces of T-shirts from Ho Chi Minh City to China for a fee of $500 to 600 (P24,057 to 28,869) per person. It said the T-shirts could have been immersed in liquefied illegal drugs and then dried before delivery. "The victims were banking on the job promised them in China, and for them, bringing 'personal things' to China for their benefactor is just a small favor in exchange for the job," the DFA said. According to the DFA, the modus operandi may involve a Filipino contact in China giving or promising an unsuspecting Filipina a job that involves much. In most cases, the salary will involve $2,000 (P96,230) per trip. The contact buys the plane ticket of the Filipina for the trip from the Philippines to China via Vietnam, where the Filipina is instructed to obtain a Chinese visa. Now regarded as a benefactor, the contact will ask the Filipina a favor involving bringing to China a present or an item from a friend based in Cambodia. "The unsuspecting Filipina, thinking that she is doing her 'benefactor' a favor, agrees and exits Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam for Phnom Penh, Cambodia by bus," the DFA said. From Cambodia, the unsuspecting Filipina, now a “mule," goes back to Ho Chi Minh City to take a direct flight to China, or proceeds to Hanoi to take a bus trip to Manning, China. One of the most common ways of smuggling drugs through human “mules" is by making them swallow plastic capsules containing several kilograms of the illegal narcotics. Others have died using this method. “They often forget these things are poisonous," Carreon told GMANews.TV in an interview. Last year, the PDEA interviewed an arrested Filipina who hid the prohibited substance inside a condom that was tucked inside her genitals. Airport authorities who noticed that she showed signs of discomfort during her travel inspected and found what she was carrying. But perhaps the newest modus operandi of these drug gangs is “conveniently" sewing drugs inside the Filipino mules’ “abdominal cavity." Carreon said that the drugs are packed then sewn inside the “mules" prior to their departure. Upon arriving in their destination country, the abdominal cavity is re-opened to retrieve the hidden drugs. But the PDEA official said that other airports overseas have installed special X-ray machines that could scan suspicious objects being smuggled into their country, even if these are hidden inside a person’s body. “They often think they’ve escaped scot-free when they leave [Manila] but they don’t realize that other airports have more advanced X-rays," Carreon said. Earlier, the Philippine Embassy in Beijing appealed to all concerned to heed the Philippine government’s warnings and not allow themselves to be used as drug couriers by drug syndicates. China and other countries strictly impose harsh penalties against persons caught in possession of or trafficking of prohibited or dangerous drugs. In China, trafficking of 50 grams or more of prohibited drugs may be punishable by 15 years in prison, life imprisonment or even the death penalty. In 2008 alone, 111 Filipinos - almost all of whom are women - were arrested for drug-related offenses in China, Hong Kong and Macau. This was a 594-percent increase from 2007, in which 16 Filipinos were arrested for drug-related offenses. Of those arrested in 2007 and 2008, 22 were sentenced to die by execution, 12 were meted out life sentences, and 11 received prison sentences of 15-16 years. - Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV