5 Pinoy drug couriers arrested in Thailand

Filipinos continue to fall victim as drug couriers, with at least five recently arrested on separate occasions in Thailand for attempting to bring several kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine into the kingdom. Three Filipinas were arrested by Thai immigration and police authorities as the Suvarnabhumi International Airport on March 22, April 13, and May 4, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a release posted on its website. Two of those arrested came from Peru, while one arrived from Brazil, the statement said. They were found in possession of about two to five kilograms of cocaine all in all. Meanwhile, at the Thai-Myanmar border, two Filipinos were likewise apprehended on May 3 for possession of over five kilograms of methamphetamine. The Philippine Embassy in Bangkok warned Filipinos against accepting and carrying packages or items to Thailand in exchange for money, in light of a “significant increase" in the number of Filipino nationals arrested there for possession of illegal substances. “The Embassy gives this warning especially to those approached by complete strangers or new acquaintances offering money in exchange for transporting certain packages on their behalf," the release stated. In June last year, a Filipina, thinking that what she was carrying was just slimming tea, was arrested for possession of 13 kilograms of marijuana at the Thai-Laos border. In Thailand, persons carrying Category I narcotics (heroin) “for the purpose of disposal" may be sentenced to death, the Embassy wrote. “A West African drug gang is believed to be behind a large-scale operation where Filipino nationals are allegedly ‘hired’ as drug mules," the release further said. The number of Filipino ‘drug mules’ has been increasing since 1990, prompting the government to create the Drug Couriers Task Force to prevent Filipinos from being used as drug couriers by international drug syndicates. In China alone, over 60 Filipinos, including 53 women, are on death row for attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the People’s Republic.