PDEA to OFWs, Filipino tourists: Don't be fooled by drug traffickers
by: Rachelle Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, March 10 (PIA) --- With more Filipinos getting arrested for drug trafficking abroad, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is warning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Filipino tourists not let themselves be used by drug trafficking syndicates.
Local PDEA Special Investigator Agent Ivy Oledan said the number of Filipinos recruited for drug trafficking by international drug syndicates have picked up in the past years as records show a total of 689 Filipino drug mules arrested as of January 2011 in different countries, mostly in Asian nations such as China, Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.
“Filipinos have become easy targets for the illegal drugs syndicate as they exploit the Filipinos' dreams of a better life by promising them jobs abroad and working visas,” said Oledan during the forum held by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) here on March 9 at Plaza Ma. Luisa Suites Inn.
Of the total 689 arrested drug couriers, 431 are females due to the assumption that women will draw lesser suspicion from authorities while 89 are already facing death penalty conviction.
PDEA's records show that a group known as West African Drug Syndicate (WADS) is behind the alarming increase of Filipino women arrested as drug couriers or “drug mules.”
Most of these women were recruited either thru casual acquaintances or online chatrooms where the victims are lured by foreigners to visit them abroad, pay for their airfares and accommodations as long as they bring a certain package with them which would turn out to contain illegal drugs.
Also susceptible are overstaying OFWs whose working visas are about to expire. “The syndicates with their Filipi co-horts would approach these OFWs and offer them jobs and money as much as $2,000 for every successful delivery and pay for their plane tickets,” said Oledan.
The couriers are then instructed to swallow latex balloons or capsules containing either heroine, cocaine or shabu which the courier would flush out from his body thru defecation upon arrival at his destination, a risky practice known as body packing or body stuffing.
“This is very dangerous for the courier as the capsule can burst or leak inside the body and cause drug overdose which can lead to death,” warned Oledan.
Aside from drug ingestion, other methods of drug mules are hiding drugs inside suitcases or luggages, inside chutes, strapping them to one's body, or placing them inside books, bottles and parcels.
Each year, 50 Filipinos are recruited into the drug mule trade by one recruiter alone.
Majority of the arrested Filipino drug mules claim that they had no knowledge of the illegal drugs they were carrying.
“Filipinos are known to be hospitable and will easily accommodate requests to bring packages from other people when they go home or abroad without bothering to find out what's inside the package,” added Oledan.
Although none of the arrested Filipino drug couriers come from Negros Oriental, Oledan said that the local security forces as well as the community should remain vigilant against drug trafficking. (RMN/PIA-7 Negros Oriental)
Police chief calls for mobilization of barangay drug abuse councils
by: Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, March 10 (PIA) --- The provincial police chief here is pushing for the mobilization of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs) to help the provincial police force in the campaign to drive out the illegal drugs trade from the province.
In a March 9 forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) here, Provincial Police Director Col. Rey Lyndon Lawas stressed the need for BADACs to monitor their barangays and tip off the police for any illegal drugs activities in their villages.
Lawas, in the same forum, lamented that the BADACs are no longer functioning in most villages in the province. “It's not enough that they have been organized, they should be working,” he stressed.
He said he has instructed the police chiefs in the towns and cities to touch base with the barangay officials and residents to discuss how the drug problem can be solved at the barangay level.
Lawas, who is eyeing to address the problem thru a barangay-based approach, said the BADACs will play a big role in their drug demand reduction campaign.
The police chief admitted that the illegal drugs problem continue to thrive in the province despite continuing efforts from the local Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Police records show that a total of 145 persons in the province have been identified in their Target List, which is categorized as individuals who are confirmed and validated to be engaged in the drugs trade either as pusher or user, while 246 more are now in the Watch List, or those who are reported to be involved but still subject for validation and confirmation by the police.
Aside from this, 111 or 20% of the total 557 barangays in the province remain to be drug affected, of which two villages in Dumaguete City are categorized as seriously affected while eight located in various towns and cities are moderately affected. (RMN/PIA-7 Negros Oriental)