Drug syndicates eye foreign exchange students as mules

abs-cbnNEWS.com


MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said syndicates are now grooming foreign exchange students to become their drug mules.

In a statement, PDEA Director General Undersecretary Jose Gutierrez Jr. said this indicates a shifting trend in the recruitment process for drug couriers.

He said syndicates are luring more Asians, notably exchange students coming from Korea, as prospective drug couriers. He added that these syndicates prey on young people, because they are inexperienced and naive.

This came on the back of the arrest of 2 members of the African Drug Syndicate last week.

Samuel Egbo y Chukwueloka, a Nigerian, and his Korean girlfriend named Yunji Choi were arrested after selling half a kilogram of cocaine worth P2.5 million to an undercover PDEA agent.

Choi said she met Egbo at a university in Manila last year. She said she has since traveled frequently in and out of the country.

Three Filipinos were executed in China last March, after being convicted of drug trafficking charges.

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