asiaone
Diva
updated 1 Feb 2010, 22:02
    Powered by rednano.sg
user id password
Mon, Feb 01, 2010
China Daily/Asia News Network
EmailPrintDecrease text sizeIncrease text size
More Chinese women duped as drug mules

Foreign drug traffickers are duping an increasing number of Chinese women, especially young victims, into carrying drugs into China, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) has said.

"A rising number of foreign drug traffickers are using the Internet as a tool to recruit or trick Chinese women to transport and receive drugs in China," a statement from the GAC said late on Tuesday.

A number of the women met African men online and later agreed to be the recipients of the packages sent by their "boyfriends", but what they did not know was that the packages contained illegal substances such as cannabis and heroin, GAC said.

China customs recently detected two packages sent to the country from overseas, each containing about 4 kg of cannabis. They were sent to two Chinese women who said the senders were their "online boyfriends" and they did not know what was in the packages, the GAC said.

China customs cracked more than 150 cases of transporting drugs via post and special delivery last year, almost triple the number in 2008. More than 250 kg of drugs were seized in mail and 80 suspects were detained, the GAC said.

Young women are especially being targeted by foreign drug traffickers both online and offline. The customs in Guangzhou, Haikou and Shenzhen cities have busted a series of drug smuggling cases carried out by women who are born after 1980 and it has become a trend, the authorities said.

Young women are seen as easily manipulated or tricked into transporting drugs, especially when money and relationships are involved. The drug traffickers also believe they are not obvious targets of the customs officials.

According to a case revealed by the GAC, a 22-year-old Chinese woman surnamed Luo who studied in Malaysia was detained last March when she tried to pass customs officials with two luggages containing drugs.

Luo said she agreed to carry the luggage from Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, to China for her Nigerian classmate after accepting a $2,000 fee. She was allegedly not aware that she was smuggling drugs.

In another case, a 25-year-old Chinese girl surnamed Li reportedly met a Nigerian called Frank in January last year in China and soon fell in love with him. Two months later, Frank asked Li to go to Malaysia and pick up some "samples" for him.

Li said she was suspicious then that the samples might be drugs but she still agreed to the request because she loved her boyfriend and was promised 10,000 yuan ($2059) as fees for her help. Li was detained by the customs as soon as she returned to China with her boyfriend's goods.

Chinese customs nabbed more than 2,110 kg of drugs during its crackdown on drug trafficking last year, a rise of 150 percent year on year.

The customs cracked 15 cases, each involving more than 10 kg of drugs, and busted 506 drug smuggling cases last year, up 34 per cent year on year. It also seized 553 suspects, 8 percent more than the number a year earlier.

readers' comments
The greedy chinese women didn't do it just for love. They did it as much for the cash. 10000 yuan in this case.

Women from China are amongst the smartest and the most manipulative people around. The notion that they can be manipulated by the africans certainly comes as a surprise to me.

Anyway, it's a matter of who has the upper hand in a relationship. For now, it's nigerians and africans one chinese woman nil and Singapore man -ve 79.

Perhaps the Chinese Government should start educating the chinese woman to be aware of those tall dark handsome stranger that they have come to love so much.
Posted by oterenceo on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 at 00:48 AM
Chinese women are not stupid. They simply want to take chances. Besides this method, the fishing ports are another reliable source of drugs supply. One thing is that in China, AFFECTION is above law. If one is caught but has concrete connections, one never has to face it.
Perhaps, those who were caught did not oil the wheels of the entire mechanism well enough to ensure free flow.
Sad but it could be the reason that no matter how deep the law sinks its fangs and claws, there is always a continuous supply right beneath the eyes of the law!
Posted by Superidiot on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 at 15:00 PM

asiaone
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn. No. 198402868E. All rights reserved.