Phl embassy in KL calls for stepped-up campaign vs illegal drugs

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur called yesterday for closer collaboration among law enforcement authorities in Southeast Asia in the campaign against illegal drugs, even as it cited recent gains in the collaboration between Philippine and Malaysian authorities.

The embassy made the call in light of the scheduled execution on Dec. 8 of a Filipino for smuggling 1.495 kilos of heroin into China in September 2008.

The Filipino and a companion arrived in Guilin airport from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the drugs had been supposedly handed to them by Nigerian traffickers and a Filipina cohort. The two Filipinos were originally based in Macau, and had traveled to Malaysia to take up promised employment.

“It is crucial that regional law enforcement authorities closely collaborate in the anti-drug smuggling campaign, notably in criminal interdictions as well as in raising public awareness on its grave risks. Western African and other international syndicates have mercilessly preyed upon hapless Filipinos, Malaysians and other nationals to act as drug mules,” said ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya. “They need to be denied a base of operation in the region.”

The embassy facilitated last September the launching of operations against a Western African drug syndicate. The entrapment operations, initiated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in partnership with the Royal Malaysian Police, resulted in the arrest of two Nigerian drug traffickers and a Filipina cohort.

The three thought they had successfully lured a Filipino into transporting 4.58 kg of heroin in a specially stitched backpack from Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi via a low-cost airline. The supposed drug mule, recruited through social networking sites, tipped off the NBI, which then launched operations with Malaysian police.

Philippine law enforcement agencies have maintained close cooperation with the Royal Malaysian Police, especially in coordinating drug interdiction operations and in encouraging bilateral and regional intelligence exchanges on the operations of drug syndicates in the region.

During a visit to Kuala Lumpur in June last year, Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo met with Malaysia’s Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein and proposed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Transnational Crimes. 

Malaysia has implemented stricter airport security measures to prevent the entry and exit of illegal drugs in Malaysia.

According to reports, Malaysian immigration and police authorities conducted last Nov. 21 simultaneous raids in Kampung Prima, Cheras and Ampang in Kuala Lumpur, and arrested some 70 Nigerian, Cameroonian and Papua New Guinean nationals suspected of involvement in drugs and sex trafficking, money laundering, money counterfeiting and internet scam.

The foreign nationals often enter Malaysia on student visas as front for their illegal activities. Malaysian immigration authorities are considering stricter guidelines in the issuance of student visas.

The Philippine embassy has reiterated its advice to the Filipino community in Malaysia to always be wary of people requesting them to carry goods to other countries in exchange for huge sums of money. “Grave risks await those who allow themselves to become drug mules,” Malaya said.