MANILA – Three Filipino women who acted as “drug mules†have been convicted by the Hong Kong High Court and meted out stiff prison sentences, a report from the Philippine consulate disclosed.
The report said the court sentenced each of the women to prison terms of eight, 12 and 14 years for illegal drug trafficking following their arrest in separate instances at the Hong Kong International Airport in February and June 2009.
It added customs authorities found various amounts of illegal drugs, such as heroin, in their luggage or on their person.
With their conviction, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reiterated its warning against Filipinos traveling abroad not to be duped into serving as couriers or mules of illegal drug syndicates operating in Asia and the Pacific and other parts of the world.
In many instances, the DFA said many of those arrested carried illegal drugs allegedly given them by their “friends†they met in transit or in countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam.
Other reported cases, the DFA said, involved overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were victims of illegal job recruiters and were forced to earn money by agreeing to becoming couriers of drug syndicates.
Thos arrested claim they were given air tickets and pocket money to travel to Hong Kong, Macau or China with the promise they would be paid $500 more upon delivery of the drugs to a contact in their destination.
As such, the warning was particularly directed to those traveling to China where there has been an alarming increase in the number of Filipinos arrested for drug smuggling.
In a report to the DFA, Sonia Brady, the Philippine ambassador to China, disclosed that since 2007, 48 Filipinos have been meted out the death penalty while 26 others received life sentences for carrying illegal drugs to that country.
Brady warned that China imposes heavy penalties on persons arrested in possession of prohibited or dangerous drugs.
For instance, Brady said that trafficking of a mere 50 grams of highly dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine is punishable from a low 15 years in jail and life imprisonment to the maximum penalty of death.
According to Brady, there are now about 183 Filipinos, mostly women, languishing in jails throughout China on drug trafficking charges.
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