Chinese court imposes death on 2 Pinoys for drug trafficking

MANILA, Philippines - Two Filipinos have been sentenced to death by a Chinese court for drug trafficking.

Sources told The STAR yesterday that the two – a male and a female – were convicted recently by a court in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang.

The court sentenced a Filipina to death without reprieve, while her cousin was sentenced to death with reprieve.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed the death penalty was handed down last March 16. The two Filipinos were arrested in a province near Shanghai on Jan. 25, 2011.

They were caught with 12.369 kilos of high-grade heroin.

“Both cases are subject to appeal at the High Court,” said DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez.

Under the Chinese criminal code, the introduction into China of 50 grams of heroin or any narcotic drug is punishable by death.

Last month, two Filipinos were also arrested by the Judiciary Police in Macau SAR for alleged drug trafficking.

The DFA said the two Filipinos were apprehended last Feb.1 in an apartment with 46 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known in the Philippines as shabu.

The drugs have an estimated street value of 90,000 patacas ($11,392.405). Several drug paraphernalia were also found in the apartment.

A suspected buyer, also a Filipino, was brought in for questioning.

The DFA reiterated its appeal to all Filipinos to avoid accepting offers from individuals or groups to carry illegal drugs in their luggage or on their person when going abroad in exchange for money, as harsh penalties await them at their destinations.