MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) warned yesterday Filipinos to be wary of accepting and carrying packages or items to Thailand in exchange for money in the wake of reports of increasing arrests of Filipinos in that country’s airport.
The Philippine embassy in Thailand said strangers or acquaintances approach Filipinos and offer money to transport or carry packages for them.
The packages later turn out to contain illegal drugs and the couriers are arrested upon entering Thailand.
In Thailand, the death penalty is given to persons carrying Category I narcotics (heroin) “for the purpose of disposal.”
In a report to the DFA, the embassy said the recent arrests made by Thai immigration and police authorities at the Suvarnabhumi Airport involved three Filipinas carrying between two to five kilograms of cocaine on three separate occasions.
Two came from Peru, while one arrived from Brazil.
At the Thai-Myanmar border, two Filipinos were arrested last May 3 for possession of over five kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu).
A West African drug gang is believed to be behind a large-scale operation where Filipinos are allegedly “hired” as drug mules.
Various government agencies are now developing and executing programs and strategies against the recruitment of Filipinos as couriers by international drug trafficking syndicates.