Hoo Hoooo! SPG have had it!
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100407-0000081/Lured-by-promises-of-love-and-money
Lured by promises of love and money
by Ng Jing Yng [email protected]
05:55 AM Apr 07, 2010
SINGAPORE - A heady relationship with a handsome man, a carefree life in the United Kingdom, money to shop and travel - these promises were too sweet for Joanne (not her real name), single and out of a job, to resist. Little did the 30-something Singaporean Chinese woman realise that she was being lured into being a drug mule.
But fate intervened in the form of a friendly taxi driver.
Towards the end of last year, Joanne was in his cab, hurrying to the airport in Kuala Lumpur to take a flight to Guangzhou, China where she was to pass a black leather bag to somebody there.
When she told the cabby what she had been tasked to do, he advised her to check what the bag contained. She found packets of drugs - measuring about 10cm by 5cm each - hidden in it. They were wrapped with black tape.
Joanne hastily dumped the bag at a hotel and returned to Singapore where she went to the police.
Yesterday, Joanne - hidden behind a screen - shared her story with the media at the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
It began in the middle of last year when she met "Hassan" on a chat site. He said he was in his 30s and earning more than half a million dollars a year and that he lived in the UK. They exchanged photos.
Joanne described the fair-complexioned man in the photo as "handsome". The relationship blossomed - soon, she was calling him "baby".
On his request, she went to Kuala Lumpur for the first time last October where a dark-skinned man gave her an envelope of documents. She then travelled to Guangzhou - where Hassan was to have met her - to deliver this.
But he did not show, saying he had met with a road accident. She passed the envelope to a woman instead.
Hassan next told her to transfer about $2,000 into a Malaysian account so that arrangements could be made for her to reside in the UK.
He told her to go to Kuala Lumpur again. That was when she met the cabby.
Recalling, she said: "I was scared ... if that is a syndicate thing, I might be in danger. If someone discover (the luggage), I will die."
Now she urges women "not to believe in sweet talk".
MediaCorp understands that the drugs were subsequently seized in a joint Singapore-Malaysia police operation.
The number of women lured into being drug mules has been on the rise. Last year, 15 women arrested were found to have links to West African syndicates. In 2008, there were three such cases.
Ms Lim Jing Jing, senior manager of CNB's Planning and Research division, said: "We urge Singaporeans to be alert and if they come across any suspicious offers of free travel or paid holidays, please think twice."
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100407-0000081/Lured-by-promises-of-love-and-money
Lured by promises of love and money
by Ng Jing Yng [email protected]
05:55 AM Apr 07, 2010
SINGAPORE - A heady relationship with a handsome man, a carefree life in the United Kingdom, money to shop and travel - these promises were too sweet for Joanne (not her real name), single and out of a job, to resist. Little did the 30-something Singaporean Chinese woman realise that she was being lured into being a drug mule.
But fate intervened in the form of a friendly taxi driver.
Towards the end of last year, Joanne was in his cab, hurrying to the airport in Kuala Lumpur to take a flight to Guangzhou, China where she was to pass a black leather bag to somebody there.
When she told the cabby what she had been tasked to do, he advised her to check what the bag contained. She found packets of drugs - measuring about 10cm by 5cm each - hidden in it. They were wrapped with black tape.
Joanne hastily dumped the bag at a hotel and returned to Singapore where she went to the police.
Yesterday, Joanne - hidden behind a screen - shared her story with the media at the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
It began in the middle of last year when she met "Hassan" on a chat site. He said he was in his 30s and earning more than half a million dollars a year and that he lived in the UK. They exchanged photos.
Joanne described the fair-complexioned man in the photo as "handsome". The relationship blossomed - soon, she was calling him "baby".
On his request, she went to Kuala Lumpur for the first time last October where a dark-skinned man gave her an envelope of documents. She then travelled to Guangzhou - where Hassan was to have met her - to deliver this.
But he did not show, saying he had met with a road accident. She passed the envelope to a woman instead.
Hassan next told her to transfer about $2,000 into a Malaysian account so that arrangements could be made for her to reside in the UK.
He told her to go to Kuala Lumpur again. That was when she met the cabby.
Recalling, she said: "I was scared ... if that is a syndicate thing, I might be in danger. If someone discover (the luggage), I will die."
Now she urges women "not to believe in sweet talk".
MediaCorp understands that the drugs were subsequently seized in a joint Singapore-Malaysia police operation.
The number of women lured into being drug mules has been on the rise. Last year, 15 women arrested were found to have links to West African syndicates. In 2008, there were three such cases.
Ms Lim Jing Jing, senior manager of CNB's Planning and Research division, said: "We urge Singaporeans to be alert and if they come across any suspicious offers of free travel or paid holidays, please think twice."
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