PDEA hunting recruiter of Filipino condemned to die in China

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is hunting down the recruiter of a 35-year-old Filipino drug courier sentenced to die in China next week.

PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez Jr. said the unidentified Filipino drug courier, whose conviction was upheld by the Chinese supreme court, had named the recruiter, allegedly belonging to an African syndicate who introduced him to the smuggling trade.

“The convict told us who the recruiter was,” Gutierrez told reporters on Saturday.

He said law enforcement agencies, including the National Bureau of Investigation, were now tracking down the recruiter.

The drug convict is scheduled to be executed on December 8, although Filipino officials are still appealing the decision. The Filipino was caught smuggling 1.495 kilos of heroin at the airport in Guangxi in September 2008, from Malaysia.

The Chinese government said the decision was final and denied a visit by Vice President Jejomar Binay to personally carry a letter appealing for clemency in behalf of the Filipino convict, whose identity has been kept under wraps purportedly at the request of the family.