DFA: 805 Filipinos with drug cases in jail worldwide

By: Matikas Santos - 10 years ago

DFA spokesman Charles Jose AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Following the sentencing of two Filipinos in Vietnam for drug trafficking, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said as many as 805 Filipinos are in prison for drug-related cases worldwide including 45 already in death row.

The figure was an increase from the 696 Filipinos imprisoned for drug-related cases reported in August 2013.

According to DFA spokesman Charles Jose, as of September 2014 there are 341 Filipinos with drug-related cases in Asia and the Pacific, 244 in the Middle East and Africa, 116 in United States and Americas, and 104 in Europe.

“We will have to check the rate of increase over the past years after we became strict and started issuing warnings against those who will agree to becoming drug mules,” Jose said in a briefing Monday.

“There are periods when the number of arrests was really high, we need to see if there was a lower total number of arrested Filipinos,” he said.

Drug couriers in Vietnam

Two Filipinos in Vietnam, Emmanuel Sillo Camacho, 39, and Donna Buenagua Mazon, also 39, were sentenced to death after being arrested in 2013 with illegal drugs.

Camacho was caught carrying 18 packages of cocaine weighing 3.4 kilograms at the Noi Bai airport in Hanoi while Mazon was caught with 1.5 kgs of cocaine in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Our Philippine Embassy in Hanoi has confirmed that two Filipinos have been meted the death penalty in Vietnam for drug trafficking,” Jose said.

“The DFA has been extending assistance to the two Filipinos since the time of their arrests. Jail visits were conducted and in the case of Camacho, private lawyers were hired by the Embassy to help in his defense,” he said.

Jose assured the families of the Filipinos that they will continue to provide assistance throughout the appeal proceedings.