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NATIONAL
Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Royal Malaysian Police
agent arrested 17 members of an international drug
syndicate and seized 1.8 kilos of cocaine and heroin in
an operation in Malaysia.
NBI
Director Nestor Mantaring said nine Nigerian, seven
Filipino women and a Sri Lankan were arrested in the
operation that was designed to stop the use of Filipinos
as “mules” by drugs syndicates.
Arrested
were Nigerians Sennanyana Topo Tswelelo, Oleseng Aaron
Thlido, Osborn Musebula, Mosuping Boago Vincent, Kenneth
Nwanodi, Paulo Lionisio Mendes, Fidelis Obinna Chukwudi,
Alan Vallen Emeka and Kennedy Ouma Onyangco.
Mantaring did not disclose the identities of the Sri
Lankan and the seven Filipino women as the bureau is
still determining the extent of their participation.
Two
months before the actual operation, an 18-year-old
informant named Kay (not her real name) went to the NBI
to report the activities of an international drug
syndicate in Malaysia, that mostly uses Filipino women
as mules to transport illegal drugs.
She said
the syndicate, one of the biggest in Asia, smuggles
drugs into China, Japan and European countries.
Kay said
the drug couriers were made to transport drugs like
cocaine and heroin by hiding it inside their private
parts.
“They
usually make them [mules] insert the drugs inside their
private parts. The drugs were compressed in a mould and
then placed in condoms. The mules would then insert the
condoms in their private parts,” she said in Filipino.
She
added “there are male mules, too. But it’s a different
procedure for them. They are either forced to swallow
the package then later defecate it, or insert the
condom-package in their anus.”
Kay
added that most mules are migrant Filipino workers who
are unemployed. She said they were recruited to
transport the drugs and paid as much as $2,000 per
delivery.
“It
depends on the amount and kind of drugs being
delivered,” she said.
On
September 12 the joint team from the NBI went to Kuala
Lumpur where, with the help of the Malaysian police,
verified the activities of the syndicate.
A total
of 140 grams of cocaine, 640 grams of heroin and 992
grams of compressed heroin with an estimated total value
of $120,000 were confiscated.
The 17
arrested suspects, including the seven Filipinos, are
now detained by the Malaysian police.
Drug
trafficking is punishable by death in Malaysia, where
the government regularly hangs convicted pushers,
couriers and financiers.
Asked
about the seven Filipino women who were arrested,
Mantaring said the NBI is still coordinating with the
Malaysian police to determine the extent of their
involvement.
“Under
investigation pa sila ng Malaysian police. Pero
tutulungan sila ng gobyerno natin.”
Meanwhile, Director General Dionisio Santiago of the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said there are
still 69 Filipinos, 65 of whom are females, detained in
Guangdong, China, for transporting drugs.
Santiago
made the statement as the PDEA expressed support for the
warning issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
to all migrant workers, including seamen, as well as
other Filipinos who travel abroad to stay clear of
illegal drug smuggling or trafficking.
PDEA has
issued three travel advisories since May 2008 for all
Filipino travelers not to accommodate any requests to
carry baggage from strangers because these may contain
dangerous drugs.
Santiago
clarified that Filipinos are being exploited owing to
their accommodating nature in the spirit of
pakikisama, a popular and often abused cultural
trait.
He
further advised travelers to personally inspect the
contents of the baggage that they are asked to bring.
International drug groups operating in Asia, the Middle
East and South America, employ Africans who recruit
unsuspecting Filipino travelers in need of money as drug
couriers or mules.
“It is
sad to note that Filipino travelers caught transporting
illegal drugs will suffer the death penalty; even if
they did not know they were actually carrying such
dangerous substances. Their only hope at this point is
diplomatic intervention by no less than the President
herself,” Santiago said. (TJ Agcaoili and J. Perez) |
