Beware of Facebook ‘likes,’ drug agency warns Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines — Be wary of foreigners suddenly “liking” you on Facebook or other social networking sites, an official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) advised netizens.

PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said many drug mules or persons used to transport drugs through international borders were befriended and recruited online.

“Some of the mules or couriers we interviewed said they were befriended through the Internet by foreigners. Such cases are increasing,” he said in a forum in Quezon City.

Comparing the cases with those of Filipinos being personally approached by recruiters, the PDEA official said incidents of online “recruitment” of drug mules were now on the rise.

Many Filipino drug mules have been arrested and convicted abroad for illegal drug trafficking. In China, some are facing the death penalty.

“A big percentage” of those arrested, Carreon said, were recruited through online networking sites like Facebook.

“We do not mean to discriminate, but be wary of foreigners ‘liking’ you on Facebook,” he said.

Carreon, in a presentation, noted that those at risk of being victimized by such syndicates were poor Filipinos with little or no educational background.

“It’s the lure of easy money and going abroad. Some things to watch out for are groups of foreigners on the Internet which offer travel,” he said.

Celso Hernandez Jr. of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration’s (POEA) Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch said Filipinos looking for overseas jobs should always go the legal way.

According to PDEA data, drug syndicates pay mules up to $3,000 for each successful trip. Some are recruited as tourists, while others are promised jobs abroad.

Hernandez said a task force on illegal recruitment would be formed soon in order to give the POEA more forces to run after illegal recruiters.

“Through a task force, we will be empowered to conduct entrapment operations and arrests,” the POEA official said.

The agency, he added, would include a briefer on the dangers of being a drug mule in the pre-orientation seminars of would-be overseas workers.

Carreon said they are also launching a media campaign to warn Filipinos about the dangers of being a drug courier for such syndicates.

Some of the reminders include not accepting packages from strangers at airports, and not being lured too easily by big money. (report from Julie M. Aurelio, Philippine Daily Inquirer)