Home 
MANILA, Philippines -- Filipinos in Laos have been warned against allowing themselves to be used as couriers by drug syndicates.
In its report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippine embassy in Vientiane warned Filipinos in Laos and elsewhere ?not to allow themselves to be used as couriers of any kind of luggage if they are not personally aware of the contents.?
They have also been advised to decline offers of ?easy money? since the penalty for drug trafficking in many countries could be life imprisonment or death.
The embassy detailed the syndicate?s modus operandi thus: Front men, mostly from West Africa, befriend and court Filipino women, oftentimes in Vientiane?s Internet cafes and restaurants, sometimes with a promise of marriage and a comfortable life.
The ?friend? would then introduce the other syndicate members, who would convince the victim to become a courier, promising to pay US$500 when the ?goods? are brought across the border, where the would-be fiancé is purportedly waiting for a rendezvous.
Many such cases have been reported by the Philippine embassy in Beijing, which has documented Filipinos being caught transporting drugs from Nepal, Macau, and other countries. Two recent cases involved Filipinos coming from Vientiane.
In one case, the Filipina, whose name is being withheld for security reasons, admitted swallowing plastic packets of illegal drugs upon the instructions of her African ?friend.? She was arrested at the border and found guilty of drug trafficking.
In the other case, the Filipina managed to convince border police that she did not know about the luggage containing what was suspected to be opium. The police confiscated the drugs but she was released and allowed to go back to Vientiane.
But in Vientiane, the syndicate pursued her and demanded she pay for the cost of the drugs.
They took her passport and threatened to harm her if she did not pay up. The embassy provided assistance and the Filipina was repatriated for her safety.
