Filipina detained in Pakistan for drug possession

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino woman and a Pakistani woman were detained in Pakistan last May 30 after authorities seized from them some 11.5 kilos of heroin.

Malaysian news agency Bernama reported Wednesday that the two were intercepted at the Islamabad International Airport by anti-narcotics operatives.

Pakistani Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) officials detained, Malinda Ruiz Papio, after she was found possessing 4.5 kilos of heroin in her suitcase.

She was bound for Singapore via Bangkok on Flight TG510, at the same airport, the ANF said.

A ranking ANF official told Bernama they had confirmed the drugs were meant for ready buyers in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

On the same day, ANF operatives seized from Pakistani housewife Shahnaz Shahzad seven kilos of heroin hidden in a suitcase, to be delivered to a buyer in Kuala Lumpur.

Anti-narcotics officials believed a Nigerian national, Dave Enenmuo Chetanna, had handed over the drugs to the Pakistani woman when they met at a church in Lahore.

The Pakistani Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) said Dave was a regular drug supplier to Malaysia.

"In the last six months, at least 40 percent of drugs seized at Pakistan airports were meant for Kuala Lumpur. We are quite surprised...we are investigating why Kuala Lumpur is now becoming a popular destination (for international drug traffickers)," an ANF official said.

But the official added the final destination might not be Malaysia, and that the drugs could change hands in Kuala Lumpur before they were sent to China or European markets.

This year alone, five women, mostly Thai and Filipinas allegedly working for drug cartels in Asian capitals, were arrested at major Indian airports, trying to smuggle out heroin to Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok.

"Traffickers are using more Thai, Filipina, African and Pakistani women to smuggle heroin now. They think women can easily dodge enforcement officers," said the official who declined to be named.

The official added most of the drugs originate from neighboring Afghanistan, which produces nearly 90 percent of the world's heroin supply. - GMANews.TV

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