Filipino faces execution in Malaysia for drug smuggling

KUALA LUMPUR  (AP) — A Malaysian prosecutor says a Filipino college lecturer is facing the death penalty on charges of smuggling marijuana.

Government lawyer Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin says Aida Dizon Garcia pleaded innocent in a court in Malaysia's central Negri Sembilan state Thursday. A conviction carries the mandatory penalty of execution by hanging.

Wan Shahruddin says the 51-year-old from Quezon City was arrested in November after exiting a bus from Thailand. He says police found 26.2 pounds (11.9 kilograms) of marijuana worth 17,800 ringgit ($5,900) in the luggage she carried.

The court allowed Garcia until April 20 to get a lawyer.

Wan Shaharuddin said Friday that Garcia was traveling as a tourist. Police trailed her bus because of a tip.