Pinoys still fall prey to drug mule syndicates in China

Despite repeated warnings, Filipinos in China continue to be duped into bringing in illegal drugs to China, Philippine officials lamented Saturday.

Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady said more and more Filipinos are enticed to carry illegal drugs for syndicates, in exchange for money. “Despite repeated warnings by the Philippine government, our kababayans continue to be victimized by these drug syndicates with wide network operations in various parts of Asia," she told some 400 members of the Filipino community, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs website. She noted there are now at least 183 Filipinos, mostly women, languishing in jails in China after being caught as “drug mules" to smuggle dangerous and prohibited drugs into China. Among those arrested in 2009 alone, seven have been imposed the death penalty; seven were meted life sentence; and another five received a sentence of at least 15 years’ imprisonment. In 2008, 111 Filipinos - almost all of them women - were arrested for drug-related offenses in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, a 594-percent increase compared to 16 arrested in 2007. Among those arrested in 2007 and 2008, 41 have been imposed the death penalty, 19 were meted life sentence, while another 11 received a sentence of at least 15 years’ imprisonment. “Since 2007, 48 Filipinos have been imposed the death penalty and 26 have received a life sentence for carrying narcotic drugs into China. I, therefore, urge Filipinos to resist any offer of financial reward from these syndicates for carrying prohibited drugs to China or to any other country in the world," Brady said. Brady stressed that China strictly imposes tough penalties against persons caught in possession of prohibited or dangerous drugs. “In China, drug trafficking of 50 grams or more of highly dangerous drug like heroin maybe punishable by 15 years in prison, life imprisonment or death," she said. Citing reports reaching her, she said those arrested were caught with narcotic drugs in their person or luggage given to them by “friends" they met in transit or another country such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Kathmandu, Nepal, Vientiane, Laos and Hanoi in Vietnam. In these cases, the Filipinos were given air tickets and pocket money to travel to Hong Kong, Macau or mainland China. They were promised that they would be paid $500 (P23,342), or more upon delivery of the drugs to a contact in their destination. Recently, some of those arrested came directly from Manila with drugs in their person or possession. - JHU, GMANews.TV