China: Possible Death Sentence for Nine Filipino women .

“The arrest of nine Filipinos in Guangdong province and Beijing in a span of three weeks is nothing less than alarming,” she said in her report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Nine Filipino women were arrested in Guangdong province and Beijing from December 24 last year to January 15 this year for alleged drug trafficking, the Philippine embassy in China said Wednesday.
This brings to 22 the number of Filipinas who have been detained or investigated in China for alleged drug smuggling from February 2007 to January 2008, leading Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady to call the situation “alarming” as she warned Filipinas against being lured by drug syndicates into acting as couriers.
“The embassy earnestly hopes our kababayans [compatriots] would heed the Philippine government’s warnings and not allow themselves to be used as ‘drug couriers’ by unscrupulous ‘friends’ working for syndicates involved in drug trafficking into China,” her report said.
All 22 arrested Filipinos claimed they were requested to carry the “parcels” by “friends” they met at transit points such as Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Vientiane (Laos), Macau (China), and Katmandu (Nepal).
They said these so-called friends gave them tickets to travel to China with promises of payment upon delivery of the parcel to a contact. They were arrested in different areas in China identified as “gateways” for drug trafficking.
Brady said Chinese laws penalize the trafficking of 50 grams or more of highly dangerous drugs, including heroin, with a prison sentence ranging from 15 years to life, or death.
“China strictly imposes tough penalties against persons caught in possession of prohibited or dangerous drugs. They face maximum sentences ranging from life imprisonment to death,” she said.
Among those recently arrested was a Filipina from Northern Luzon who was apprehended on arrival in China from Kuala Lumpur on December 24, 2007 with 800 grams of heroin in 78 capsules found on her person.
She told embassy officials she was offered $5,000 by an African friend of her Nigerian boyfriend to transport 1,000 grams of heroin to Guangzhou through Beijing.
Initially, she was given $700 travel allowance, with the balance to be paid upon turnover of the drugs to an unidentified person in Guangzhou. Before boarding the plane in Kuala Lumpur, she swallowed the capsule-enclosed heroin.
She was about to purchase her onward plane ticket to Guangzhou when Beijing airport authorities apprehended her.
Even as she vehemently denied the accusations, a body search yielded some of the capsules and she admitted to carrying more drugs in her person.
“I urge Filipinos to resist any offer of money from these syndicates for carrying parcels with prohibited drugs to China,” Brady emphasized.
“We will work closely with our regional partners pursuant to bilateral and multilateral mechanisms which address this growing problem as these drug syndicates apparently have a wide network operating in various parts of Asia,” she added.

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84,000 drug users in Zhejiang province

The number of registered drug users in Zhejiang province increased by nearly a quarter to 84,000 last year, giving it the fourth highest concentration in the nation, statistics show.
In response, drug control authorities said they will attack the problem by educating people about the scourge of drugs and opening new treatment centers for addicts.
"Nearly 20,000 new drug users were registered last year, up about 23 percent on the year before," Dong Xiaowei, deputy director of the provincial bureau of public security, said.
Zhejiang's drug problem is partly the result of its relatively high percentage of migrant workers, Zhu Jiangang, a staff worker at the provincial publicity department, said on Friday.
He said many drug dealers come from outside the province.
"Meanwhile, the government has been taking tough measures to crack down on drug smuggling," he said.
Zhu said many of the drug addicts are teenagers, accounting for 70 to 80 percent.
"That means we have to pay more attention to educating young people to make them more aware of the harm of taking drugs," he said.
The province has been working to improve anti-drug education.
Courses on the harm caused by drug use are part of the regular school curriculum from grade 5 in primary schools until senior high schools in the province.
However, Zhu said, education alone is not enough to help drug addicts.
Tackling drug abuse requires coordinated efforts from the government, families and communities.
Zhejiang is home to about 18 community clinics that use methadone to treat drug addicts. Doctors, community workers and volunteers also offer counseling there.
"Quitting drugs can be a long and torturous process," Zhu said.
Statistics show that only 4.7 percent of registered drug addicts in the province are receiving methadone treatment, a drug-replacement therapy that is popular in the West and Hong Kong.
"More should be done to educate drug addicts on the necessity of receiving timely treatment," Zhu said.
In a bid to reach out to more drug addicts in the province, the government plans to increase the number of methadone clinics to 30 in the next few years, he said.
"We hope that consistent treatment and education will help more drug users find their way back to their families and communities," the official with the publicity department said.

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Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim sentenced to death

Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim has been sentenced to death by the Guangzhou High Court in China for trafficking in 2,983 grammes of heroin.Her mother, Umi Slaia Ibrahim, 45, said the family who did not get any news from her for one year and were shocked to receive a letter dated July 12 from Wisma Putra that her daughter was being held in China since Jan 19. She was sentened to death on May 15 and has two years from the date of conviction to lodge an appeal.We did not hear from her for months and suddenly we received news that she was held in China and has been sentenced to death. This is so distressing."I was told the drugs were received in Bangkok and to be given to a Nigerian known as 'UG' on her arrival at Shantou," Umi Slaia said at her home at Kampung Tok Kamis here Monday.The drugs were found hidden in her luggage on arrival at Shantou.Umi Azlim is a University Malaysian graduate.

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Hao Chen, Bai Yingna ,Han Tao

a gang of six people were given sentences ranging from death to 15 years in jail for trafficking drugs, according to a ruling handed down by a court in northeast China's Liaoning Province. According to the investigation of the Jinzhou Intermediate People's Court, Hao Chen, the ringleader, and Bai Yingna bought 330 grams of methamphetamine, commonly known as "ice", in southern Guangdong Province in December 2006 and then sold the drug in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province.
In March this year, Hao, together with Bai and her boy friend Han Tao, went to Guangzhou and bought 900 methamphetamine tablets, also known as "Yaba", from a person surnamed Duan. The next day, they bought more than 400 grams of "ice" and 400 Yaba tablets from a person nicknamed "Gan Hong", with the aid of another two accomplices Feng Zhiyong and Lao Guixin. The day after, they bought 497 more grams of Yaba tablets from Deng Jianlin.
The court sentenced Hao Chen and Han Tao to death and life imprisonment for trafficking 1,380 grams and 1,050 grams of ice

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89 suspects from five gangs

Police yesterday announced details of a major drug operation in Guangdong Province that netted 89 suspects from five gangs.
Law enforcement officers worked with their counterparts from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions for the operation.

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Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of China's drug watchdog, has been executed.

on trial..now executed, Zheng Xiaoyu
Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of China's drug watchdog, has been executed.
Zheng is another corrupt official to receive capital punishment after Cheng Kejie, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and Hu Changqing, vice-governor of Jiangxi province, east China, were executed .

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