OFWs vs drug trafficking

Broadcasters urged to warn China-bound OFWs vs drug trafficking

Philippine officials in China sought the media's help Friday in warning China-bound Filipino workers to be wary of "delivery assignments" lest they unwittingly act as drug mules.

HOW DRUGS ARE HIDDEN
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Drug syndicates have found ingenious ways of smuggling thousands of dollars worth of prohibited substances.

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.

But perhaps the some of the newest modus operandi of these drug gangs involve “conveniently" sewing drugs inside the Filipino mules’ “abdominal cavity" and placing the substance inside a condom and tucking it inside a woman's genitals.


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Ambassador to China Sonia Brady relayed her request to a delegation from the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) now touring China.

"I ask our fellow Filipinos not to agree to bring parcels to China, lest they find themselves in trouble," she said in Filipino in an article on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines website.

KBP president Herman Basbaño and legal counsel Rudolf Steve Jularbal agreed to discuss the request during the next general assembly meeting scheduled next week.

They agreed to help disseminate the needed information to the general public possibly to advocacy spots among KBP member stations.

Brady said that in China, at least 180 Filipinos, mostly women, are languishing in various jails in China due to drug trafficking.

Under China’s laws, anybody caught in possession of 50 grams or more of prohibited drugs would face the death penalty. [See: After Vecina’s freedom, what about other Filipinos in jails abroad?]

Brady said that since 2007, 180 Filipinos have been jailed because of possession of illegal drugs.

The Filipinos are languishing in various jails from Guangzhou, Fujian to Shanghai, including far-away Urumqi and Tibet. She said the Filipinos mostly came from Malaysia and some from Manila.

She called on Filipino broadcasters to relay her message to the general public.

Brady said most of the Filipinos found guilty of drug trafficking were promised huge amounts of money upon delivery of the illegal goods to various contacts inside China.

However, most of these “mules" are caught upon entry because of the strict rules and regulations against illegal drugs in China.

One of the mules died recently because the drug container inside his body broke.

Meanwhile, Brady asked the Catholic Church as well to help spread her appeal to Filipino workers not to get involved in the illegal drug trade.

She said some of the mules have become girlfriends of syndicate members involved in illegal drug trade.

Brady said it is difficult to come up with an accurate estimate of Filipinos in China because most Filipinos who go to Beijing and other cities are considered tourists.

She said contract workers are easy to monitor but Philippine embassy officials find it hard to monitor tourists who go looking for work either as domestic helpers or teachers. [See: Not all schools in China accept Pinoy teachers, POEA warns]

There are also instances when Filipino teachers are lured to work in China as English language teachers through the Internet, only to have their contracts substituted upon reporting for work.

“It is only when they get into trouble that they call on the embassy for consular assistance," she said. - GMANews.TV