Pinay drug mule gets life in prison

MANILA, Philippines - A Manila court yesterday sentenced a Filipina drug mule to life in prison and ordered her to pay a fine of P2 million for smuggling 30 grams of heroin from Pakistan.

Marita Lualhati Reyes was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in 2011.

NBI agents Jerome Bomediano and Joel Otic told the court that the heroin was from Islamabad, Pakistan and would be transferred to a courier, who was tasked to bring the contraband to China.

Judge Maria Sophia Taylor of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 31 found Reyes guilty of violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Authorities nabbed Reyes at a mall in Manila with the help of a drug-sniffing dog that sat down near her luggage during the NBI operation.

The court noted how Reyes would change her statements during the trial.

First, she admitted that a certain Max Chidi asked her to bring the heroin to the Philippines. She recanted and told the court that she did not know any Max.

During her arrest, Reyes claimed that her boyfriend asked her to come home. Later on, she said a friend, whose name she refused to divulge, sent her to Manila.

Reyes told the court that she was not aware of the heroin in her luggage and claimed that the evidence was planted.

However, she later admitted that she knew of the courier who would get the package from her.

The court ordered Reyes’ transfer to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.