China executes 2 Pinoy drug mules
Two Filipinos were executed in China on Nov. 24, about seven years after they were convicted of drug trafficking, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Saturday.
The DFA did not identify the two Filipinos at the request of their respective families, but they were arrested at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in 2013 after almost 12 kilograms of methamphetamines were found hidden in DVD machines in their luggage.
“We offer our most sincere condolences to their families and loved ones. We respect the wishes of their families for privacy, and as such are withholding the identities of the two Filipinos,” DFA said in a statement.
“The Department likewise deferred from immediately announcing this sad development pending receipt from the Chinese side of the formal notification of their execution,” it added.
The two underwent criminal trials until 2016 when they were sentenced to death for drug smuggling.
In 2017, their convictions were appealed to the High People’s Court of Guangdong province that had jurisdiction over their case but in 2018, the original verdicts were upheld.
Appeal rejected
The DFA said they extended all possible assistance to the two Filipinos during their trials and even negotiated to commute their sentences to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds. But the appeal was rejected.
“There were also high-level political representations in this regard,” the statement read.
Around the time of their arrest, hundreds of Filipinos were already detained in Guangzhou for trying to smuggle narcotics.
Since 2009, or 14 years ago, there were more Filipinos caught transporting drugs to China than the nationals of any other Southeast Asian country, so Filipino travelers today can expect to be immediately suspect.
3/4 were women
At one point, there were more than 200 Filipinos detained in Chinese jails for serving as drug “mules,” or carriers of narcotics past international borders.
In 2014, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said almost three-fourths of the number were women duped by international syndicates into transporting illegal drugs in exchange for up to $5,000.
According to the DFA, there are 92 Filipino death penalty cases still pending in China, all but one of which are drug cases.
Two convictions were commuted to life imprisonment while 86 convictions were reduced to fixed terms after appeal.
But, even with the execution of the two on Nov. 26, there are still two other capital punishment cases pending final review.
The DFA said that while they will not shirk at their duty to assist Filipinos abroad, they reminded all Filipino travelers that drug trafficking carries harsh penalties in many countries.
Filipinos should not fool themselves into thinking they will not get caught because airports have advanced technologies and drug enforcement agencies around the world have reliable intelligence-sharing capabilities.
“The Department issues this urgent reminder to all Filipinos wishing to travel overseas to be vigilant of the modus operandi of drug syndicates in recruiting unwitting travelers as drug mules, and to refuse to carry any package that you have not personally packed and thoroughly inspected,” the DFA warned. INQ
