Filipino gets 10 years for smuggling drugs in UAE

A Filipino was sentenced to 10 years in jail in the United Arab Emirates after pleading guilty of attempting to bring in cocaine there April last year. Judge Hamad Abduljawad of the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance ordered the 27-year-old Filipino, whose name was withheld, to pay a fine of Dh50,000 (P622,742). He will also be deported once he serves his sentence, according to UAE news site Khaleej Times. Court records showed the Filipino was arrested with 99 capsules of cocaine - 37 of which were inside his stomach - weighing more than 1.25kg at the Dubai International Airport on April 18 last year. The man confessed to collecting $3,000 (P137,236) for transporting the contraband. Filipinos seeking employment abroad have provided syndicates ingenious ways of transporting illegal drugs overseas, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). PDEA said these syndicates make "mules" out of willing Filipino travelers by making them swallow capsules containing narcotics, or sewing packed drugs into their abdominal cavity to be reopened upon his/her arrival at the destination country. - Jerrie Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV