4 Pinoys arrested in HK for alleged drug trafficking –DFA

Four Filipinos were arrested in Hong Kong late September for allegedly smuggling a huge amount of prohibited drugs, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday.
No further details were provided by the DFA, but said the Filipinos were allegedly in possession of “2.49 kilograms of dangerous drugs during the last week of September 2015.”
“The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong has already visited the arrested Filipino nationals and is providing appropriate and timely assistance to ensure their welfare and well-being,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said.
Hong Kong does not impose death penalty on drug traffickers unlike in other places, like China and the Middle East, where drug trafficking is a capital offense and punishable by death.
Several Filipinos, particularly in China, have been executed in the past for drug trafficking.
Unfazed by the executions, many Filipinos continue to engage in the crime.
In exchange for huge payments, Filipino women and even men are reportedly being hired by West African drug syndicates to transport drugs mainly in Asia and South America - sometimes by ingesting it.
The DFA said a total of 88 Filipinos are facing death penalty abroad and more than half of this figure are drug-related cases, mainly in Asia. —Michaela del Callar/KBK, GMA News

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