Philippine government agencies are now coordinating with counterparts abroad in connection with the cases of several Filipino jailed in China for drug smuggling.

Undersecretary Dionisio Santiago, director-general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, said the issue on drug “mules” or couriers was among the topics tackled in the Far East Working Group of the International Drug Enforcement Conference last year as well as in the IDEC meeting held in Istanbul, Turkey last month.

Santiago explained that cases of mules are under the category of human trafficking case, since Filipinos involved are used to smuggle illegal drugs to foreign countries.

Santiago said PDEA has adopted operational innovations by activating a Human Trafficking Desk.

He added that PDEA has been closely monitoring cases. In fact, it has issued several travel advisories warning Filipino overseas workers not to accommodate requests to bring baggage on behalf of strangers to prevent them from possibly ending up as drug couriers and face criminal penalties.

Earlier reports stated that there are 52 Filipino workers now languishing in several jails in Beijing due to drug trafficking charges.

Dangerous Drugs Board chairman Vicente Sotto III said that the jailed Filipinos may not get any help at all from the Philippine government. 

Seven of the apprehended Filipinos have been found guilty of the charges and could face the capital punishment once the court decision becomes final.

The PDEA, meanwhile, is also in the process of signing Memoranda of Agreements (MOAs) with concerned foreign counterparts to enhance cooperative efforts to address the problem on drug “mules”.

The topic on drug “mules” was also raised during the 7th Law Enforcement Pillar meeting of the ASEAN and China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drugs in July.

It was during that meeting when Malaysia reported a growing trend of Malaysian and Indian nationals being used as drug ‘mules” or couriers by West Africans, particularly Nigerians.

The PDEA chief said the agency has signed its MOA with the Bureau of Immigration on July 15, 2008 and requested the same for a list of Nigerian nationals coming in or presently residing in the country to monitor their activities.