3 Filipino would-be drug mules rescued in Pampanga

At least three would-be Filipino drug mules were rescued from possible arrest and a death sentence in China after government agents busted a West African drug ring that recruited them. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said at least four members of the ring – a Filipina and four foreigners – were arrested during a sting operation in Pampanga province last weekend. Arrested were Eliza Quiros Dimalanta a.k.a. Elisa Coles Quiros of Concepcion, Tarlac; and Guinean nationals Mazibane Cassim, 40; Marcel Bakayoko, 27; and Camara Sekou, 35. Rescued were Arnol Glorioso, Benjamin Mendiola, and Jinky Cleofe. An article on the NBI Web site said Glorioso informed the NBI that a certain Liza was recruiting overseas workers to China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Ecuador without the needed permits.

Glorioso said they were promised a salary of $2,500 to $3,000 per trip in exchange for delivering a package. Glorioso said that last Feb. 12, Liza instructed him to go to a fast-food outlet in Dau town in Pampanga, triggering his suspicions that he may be falling victim to a drug-trafficking ring. An operation was planned when he informed the NBI about it. That night, Cassim and Sekou met Glorioso and brought him and the other two Filipinos to 101 Vitug Apartment in Malabanas village in Angles City, Pampanga. Liza arrived and showed them a thumb-sized capsule, and Camara and Bakayoko instructed the Filipinos to swallow the capsules and hide drugs inside their luggage. An NBI undercover agent who tagged along witnessed the procedure. Glorioso and the two others were then instructed to prepare for their trip to China the next morning. Sekou and Bakayoko went to the apartment and fetched the three en route to Clark Air Base. An NBI team intercepted them along Narciso Street while they were on their way to the airport. Seized from the suspects were two thumb-sized capsules with 20.017 grams of cocaine hydrochloride, and instruments used in drug trafficking. The suspects face charges of violating the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, and Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 before the Angeles City Prosecutor's Office. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has already formed a task force that seeks to stop the rampant recruitment of overseas Filipinos as drug couriers by international drug syndicates. - KBK, GMANews.TV