Two Filipinas who were recruited by a suspected African Drug Syndicate to become drug mules were rescued in Malaysia, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said.
“So, we were able to save them and bring them back to the country,” NBI Director Jaime B. Santiago said during a press conference.
Santiago presented the two Filipinas, whose faces were covered and names withheld, after being repatriated last Feb. 5 following a rescue operation conducted by local police in Malaysia.
Santiago said the Malaysian police also arrested a female African courier and seized from her 2.3 kilograms of cocaine.
“The arrest was made before that courier could give the cocaine to the two Filipinas,” he said.
Meanwhile, Santiago assured that the NBI is working to identify and arrest the Filipina recruiter who hired the two women.
“Nakikipagtulungan ngayon itong dalawa para ma-identify natin ‘yun at mahuli natin (The two victims are helping us identify the recruiter so we can catch her),” he said.
He explained that the rescue operation conducted by Malaysian police was a result of coordination made by the NBI which learned about the two Filipinas following an investigation of a drug courier who got arrested in Pasay City last January.
“Sinabi ko sa kanila mas mabuti iligtas natin yung mga biktima na mga Filipino kaysa magkaroon na naman tayo ng another Veloso case (I told NBI investigators that it would be better to rescue these Filipinas instead having another Mary Jane Veloso case),” he recounted.
Veloso was sentenced to death after being caught at an Indonesian airport in 2010 with 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
She eventually escaped the death sentence and managed to return to the Philippines last December after the Malaysian government decided to have her serve her prison term in her home country.
NBI Dangerous Drug Division (NBI-DDD) Chief Jonathan Ross Galicia said the African Drug Syndicate targets Filipinos who are in financial distress and fluent in English.
Galicia said the rescued Filipinas were lured with $5,000 and all-expenses paid trip to Malaysia and Hong Kong in exchange for transporting packages from Malaysia to Hong Kong.
He also said the two woman were assured that the packages merely contained Malaysian products ordered by Hong Kong businessmen.