ADVISORY AGAINST SCHEMES THAT LURE FILIPINAS TO BE DRUG COURIERS
This is to disseminate the strong warning recently issued by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) against the operation of international drug syndicates that operate in the Asian and Latin American regions whose modus operandi is to trick women into smuggling drugs through international airports.
Would-be OFWs are strongly advised to stay clear of unlicensed recruiters and other persons who pretend to be offering legal jobs abroad not in compliance with the legal recruitment processes enforced by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration or POEA.
To help Filipinos avoid being forced into this kind of situation, following is the usual progression of events that leads a Filipino into being deceived to act as a “drug courier”:
1. Jobs are usually offered to Filipino women to work in an Asian capital, although only tourist visas are issued to the applicants;
2. Once abroad, the Filipino is ordered to stay in a hotel for a number of days and is only given phone numbers of contact persons in the country where the Filipino is staying;
3. After some time, a foreign national will meet the Filipino at her hotel. It is at this time that the Filipino is informed that she is to deliver something to some South American destination
4. The Filipino will be given plane tickets usually roundtrip, from the Asian capital to a Latin American country via Europe and back, as well as “payment for services” usually amounting to US$4.000
5. While in the Latin American country, another foreign national will meet the Filipino at a predetermined hotel to get her luggage and will eventually return the same luggage to her BUT this time containing illegal drugs (cocaine) concealed among the packed belongings for her return trip to Asia
6. In case of arrest, the duped Filipino victims are sentenced to imprisonment, usually lasting from two to six years, depending on the amount of illegal drugs found in her possession
The most recent victims are the two Filipinas that were arrested separately this month, in a span of one week, in Bolivia.
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Please advise your family and friends in the Philippines. |
