West African drug ring recruits female students in North Luzon - PDEA

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The dreaded West African drug syndicate(WADS) is taking in female students as drug mules, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) here has learned.

PDEA-Cordillera director Gil Castro said two Nigerians, believed to be part of the syndicate already recruited two female students from one of the universities here.

He said the drug ring has made this city, which is also the education capital of Northern Philippines having at least five big universities and a student population of at least 80,000 as its staging point of its operations in Northern Luzon 

Castro said WADS usually court female students and later convince them to be drug mules.

He said female students are paid $2,000 for every successful delivery of 50-90 capsules or a kilo of cocaine, who are also sent to Manila to get transportation allowances from other syndicate members, then to Thailand or Malaysia to take supplies of cocaine.

The recruited drug mules also travel to China and Hongkong to hand the illegal drugs to clients, Castro said.

Castro assured that PDEA is monitoring the activities of the syndicate here.

He said many Filipino drug mules arrested and detained in other countries were residents here.

He cited a 39-year-old native of Mankayan town in Benguet, who was supposed to deliver her goods to Malaysia who was arrested on February 26, 2009 at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Pakistan for keeping 938 grams of heroin.  

He said another 39-year old single mother with five children also from this city, who left Manila for China on March 05, 2010 was arrested for keeping 1.5 kilograms of heroin.

Earlier in July 1996, a 61-year-old OFW recruiter was sentenced to life imprisonment for smuggling 1,022 grams of high-grade shabu in China. She was freed after 17 years in prison.

Castro said a 36-year-old mother with 1,290 kilos of heroin in her possession was arrested in Shanghai, China in September 2008 and sentenced to life imprisonment.