Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 Source: Malaya (Philippines) Copyright: 2005 People's Independent Media Inc Contact: http://www.malaya.com.ph Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3826 Author: Marilou Jumilla Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines DRUG RINGS TAPPING PINAYS AS MULES INTERNATIONAL drug syndicates have been tapping Filipinas looking for work abroad as drug couriers, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The DFA said the number of Filipinas caught carrying drugs has been on the rise, the latest involving a five-kilo shipment of cocaine intercepted at a Malaysian airport. The DFA said that as of December 2004, its missions abroad had reported 116 Filipinos involved in drug-related case. Of this number, 35 were in the Americas, 32 in the Middle East and Africa, 26 in Europe and 23 in Asia and the Pacific. The Embassy in Brazil said there were 15 Filipinos in Brazil caught smuggling in drugs from Thailand and Turkey. The DFA said drug syndicates usually offer jobs in an Asian capital. On arrival the victim is told to stay in a hotel and get in touch with a contact person by telephone. The contact man meets the victim and tells her she is to deliver a package to another destination, usually a Latin American country via Europe. The victim is provided with a round-trip ticket. After delivery, the victim returns to the Asian capital and receives a payment of $4,000. The victim risks imprisonment of two to six years, depending on the volume of the contraband, if arrested at her destination. The DFA said it is extending help to Aquiline Nino Quiemno, 25, who was caught with five kilos of cocaine at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Quiemno, who arrived from Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 29, carried the contraband inside her bag. The Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said cooperation by Quiemno with investigators has led to several arrests. - ---