TRAVEL INDUSTRY NEWS AND WARNINGS

Thomas Ossel was shot in the jaw and his brother, Jack, was also wounded in the attack on Venezuela's Margarita Island.

Talking to a Venezuelan radio station, regional police official Luis Garavin said the shooting happened on Monday as the two men were leaving an upmarket inn to return home from the island, which is one of Venezuela's leading tourist destinations.

He said investigators believe gunmen tried to rob the men and apparently opened fire when they resisted.

Britain's Foreign Office confirmed Mr Ossel's death and said its officials were "providing consular assistance to the family".

Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America. Last year, it reported a rate of 48 murders for every 100,000 inhabitants.

That rate is only surpassed in Latin America by El Salvador where 70 in every 100,000 citizens were murdered last year.

British teenager has died after being attacked by two taxi drivers on an island in Greece, local police said.

Robert Sebbage, 18, from Tadley, Hampshire, was reportedly stabbed on the island of Zakynthos. In 2007 he was a mascot for the England football team.

Local police said a group of Britons were attacked, leaving one dead and four injured - one seriously.

Two Greek taxi drivers, aged 21 and 25, are charged with murder and complicity to commit murder respectively.

The attack is thought to have happened in the early hours of Wednesday at the Laganas resort on the island, also known as Zante, where Mr Sebbage had been with a group of friends.


It's just injected a sort of fear into me now of what to expect when going out for the rest of my holiday”


His family said in a statement: "All these young men are very close friends. They are all 18 years old and all went to the Hurst School together - some went on to college together, some into work.

"They are simply just a bunch of nice lads and this is their first holiday abroad and they had all gone just to enjoy themselves."

Jacques Tibbels, 18, from Marlow, Buckinghamshire, arrived at the scene after the stabbings had happened along the main strip of bars and clubs.

He told the BBC: "As we peered through the crowd we saw a boy on the floor with a cut into his abdomen area, ripped through his T-shirt, and a lot of blood."

Mr Tibbels said a second victim was "covered in blood" and a third man held what looked like tissues or cloth to wounds on his back.

"It was frightening because you think when you're here in Zante everyone's here to have fun.

"Yes you expect to see maybe a fight once in a while in Zante because of all the intoxicated youths, but you don't expect to come back to your hotel to find three boys stabbed and wounded on the floor."

In 2007, Mr Sebbage was chosen as a mascot for the England football team in a friendly against Brazil at Wembley and posed for photos next to David Beckham.

'Dream come true'
Aged 14 at the time, he was picked by the Rays of Sunshine charity because he suffered from a bowel disorder called Eosinophilic colitis and gut dysmotility.

The condition meant he suffered from horrendous stomach pains and sickness and had to have part of his intestine removed.

In his letter to the charity, Mr Sebbage, who played for Tadley Calleva Youth Football Club, wrote: "I love football; my life has always revolved around it.

"I used to play every day at school and was once good enough to have trials at county level.


Zakynthos is a popular destination for Britons with direct charter flight links to several cities
"Playing football made me feel alive. I feel angry, frustrated and depressed that I can no longer take part in the one thing I love.

"However, I will never give up on supporting England. It would be a real dream come true for me just to wear the England kit and walk out of that tunnel as a mascot for my team."

Friends have created a tribute page on Facebook to the teenager, who listed his interests on his own page as being a keen fan of Reading FC and the bands Oasis, Kasabian and Kings of Leon.

A local police spokesman said two Greek taxi drivers had been "involved in an argument" with a group of foreign nationals, "resulting in a physical confrontation".

He said: "A 21-year-old taxi driver attacked and injured five British nationals, one of whom suffered fatal injuries."

The Foreign Office said it was in contact with the families of those involved and was providing consular assistance.

Summer’s started, the sun is shining in many corners of the world, and a feeling for escape follows you from morning to sunset. You want to go out there, get away from your daily routine and enjoy your freedom. One solution: put on your backpack and get ready to step into the world of wild travelers.

There are different types of backpacking. One is hiking and discovering wild areas with just a backpack. This requires physical preparation and proper equipment, such as torch, first aid kit, anti-insect spray, antibacterial lotion and sun cream. Another type is to go from one country to another discovering cities and places, but not necessarily hiking.

If it’s your first time backpacking, you certainly have a mixture of fear, excitement and worries. Your main worry should be getting a new and lasting addiction of the type that’s not bad for your health and it doesn’t cost much.

First, pick the city you want to start with, how long you want to travel for and your budget. I’d advise booking a return ticket for both long-term and short-term trips, to avoid paying a horrendous amount of money for a last minute ticket. Being aware of your trip's length means you will be able to manage your budget appropriately and avoid the I-am-never-going-home idea (it will enter your mind for sure).

Yes, even though you’re intrepid and you feel the great wild taking over your body and mind, just in case you fail at finding direction with a compass or the sun, a map might be useful. Plan roughly where you’d like to go and make sure it fits your budget. Yet keep in mind that there is no point in planning everything in advance - you probably won’t follow your itinerary.

Indeed, you know you’re becoming an experimental backpacker when you stop thinking about your next stop. Like your ancestors, follow the wind or your heart. Too much thinking is a waste of time and energy. Your path will cross must-see things that locals, fellow backpackers or hostel staff tell you about. All of a sudden, you’ll head in the opposite direction than originally intended, skip places and discover others you’ve never heard that are much better than the planned ones. That’s one of the numerous joys of backpacking.

Make sure you know about the weather of the region you’re going to. Then pack: two of each item you need: t-shirts, jumpers, underwear, socks, pants, shorts, shoes (trekking and sneakers), and a pair of flip-flops. If you’re going on a short trip you can bring more. A sleeping bag is good, but a silk sleeping bag is lighter and warm enough for summer. Buy a fast drying towel made of microfiber, which takes no room and is very light.

It’s really essential to make sure your backpack isn’t fully loaded or too heavy. You might have to carry it up or down a hill, or for a couple of hours - that might happened particularly if you have a bad sense of direction (like me). Keep some spare room for stuff you’ll buy while traveling. Once everything is packed, lock your backpack with an iron wire, or a simpler lock if you feel that's enough, but erring on the side of too much safety is often wiser.

Equip yourself with the basic backpacker tool: an updated tourist guide covering the region you’re going to. I recommend the Lonely Planet guides; they’re always very clear and provide all the information needed to go from one place to another, understand the culture and the people, and give the best advice on accommodation, sights and places to eat.

Backpacking on your own might be scary at first. As long as you follow your common sense you can’t go wrong unless you're terribly unlucky. The golden rule is to know where your next destination is and how to get there. Just get organized the day before you decide to leave a place.

Usually if you stay in a hostel the staff will help you. If you decide to stay with “couch hosts,” via www.couchsurfing.org, ask your host. They must know where the train or bus station is. From that point you can figure out easily how to get somewhere.

Because a language barrier can makes things complicated, write things down. Your Bosnian or Chilean accent might not be good enough for the locals to understand, so always have a pen and paper with you to write down what you want to ask if necessary.  

Beware when traveling in public transport such as train or buses - people usually have time to check out how to steal stuff from your bag. If you travel overnight, always sleep on your bag, and keep an undercover hidden pocket on you. If you're unlucky enough to get robbed, remember that it’s terrible but not the end of the world because things can be replaced.
   
For accommodation, you’ve got three options: hostels, camping or couch surfing. If you decide to stay in a hostel, check its reputation online - the best website is www.hostelworld.com. They charge you one euro every time you book a room. If you’re on the cheap, find the hotel number online and make a reservation over the phone. They’ll come up with the usual “we need a deposit of $xxx, could you transfer the money by tomorrow?” Just say that it’s pointless because a transfer from wherever you’re from to wherever the hostel is will take at least three days (which is true), and by the time they receive your deposit, you might have stayed there and gone on somewhere else.

Talk to the staff and see what’s around the city. You might end up in one of those fantastic places where tourists are scarce and where mother nature and locals provide beautiful scenery.

You shouldn’t be too cheap on hostels, you have to have one that fits your expectations. If you want to chill, get a quiet one; if you want to meet people and party, then find one accordingly. In most cases it's best to not book for more than one night, so that you dislike the hostel, you can find another one.

In general, hostel employees in different countries know each other, so do not hesitate to follow their advice for your next destination.

If you decide to use www.couchsurfing.org, again read the reviews and contact people in advance. Don’t worry too much about being hosted by a rapist, a serial killer or whatever, for as far as I know there has never been any problem with hosts or surfers. Couch surfing is a small community of travel addicts. Even once you’ve met your host, nothing forces you to stay with them. If you don’t feel safe, leave and check in somewhere else.

Make sure you always have LE500 on you in case of an emergency. It’s heartbreaking, but you might at some point have to spend this amount of money to stay in a hotel (because you can’t trust your host, or if something goes wrong, or just because you need to relax in a comfortable and homely place for one night - being blue happens even to the unconditional backpackers).

If you’re a photographer, remember to save your pictures on an online database such as Dropbox. It would be such a shame to lose them if your camera broke or got stolen.

If you go to what can be called, or used to be, an unsafe country (for instance the Balkans or Eastern Europe, or some parts of South America or the Middle East), talk with locals and listen to their advice. In other words, avoid land mines in the Balkans and the Columbian jungle, but also inadvisable Parisian suburbs or Mafia districts in Italy. It’s common sense, but it can’t be said too many times.

Locals may try to lure you into tourist traps. If you have your backpack with you, TOURIST is written on your forehead, which equals CASH. This heightens the risk of being bothered on crowded streets or lit-up streets at night. People may stare at you, but remember you’d probably do the same if you saw someone walking around with a backpack in your own city.  

To prevent any big trouble, get a hidden pocket to tie around your hips. If anything happens, you still have cash, bank cards and a passport on you, and that’s really all you need. The rest is material; you’ll realize this while traveling. If you don’t feel safe, keep pepper spray within reach just in case.

Never forget that spending a couple of euros in a taxi might sometimes be wiser than being too cheap. If at any time you feel unsafe, jump in and tell the driver to drive away.
   
Alone or with others, backpacking is thrilling and definitely worth doing. Finally, if you travel alone, no worries, you will rarely be lonely - the best thing about backpacking is meeting people from all around the world, on the other side of your continent or of the globe, who are passionate about the same thing: traveling and having fun.

They have pinpointed the chemical that makes red skin smart and itch hours after the sun has gone in.

And the finding could also lead to the development of drugs to treat long-term, painful and hard-to-treat conditions such as arthritis.

In the study, the researchers from King's College London used UV lamps to burn tiny squares of skin on the arms of ten volunteers.

Two days later, when the reddened skin was at its most sensitive, they removed slivers and ran experiments to pin down why it was so painful.

They found several chemicals to be present in the burnt skin at higher levels than usual.

The main one was CXCL5. It attracts inflammatory white blood cells to the sunburnt skin, triggering pain and tenderness.

Further experiments showed that it was also present in high levels in sunburnt rats and when it was injected into those that had not been burnt, it made them highly sensitive to touch.

Professor Steve McMahon, one of the scientists involved and head of the London Pain Consortium, said the research might be relevant to other inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis.

I'm excited about where these findings could take us in terms of eventually developing a new type of analgesic for people who suffer from chronic pain, the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

Body scanners should be allowed at European Union airports only if the health, dignity and privacy of passengers are protected, the European Parliament said in a resolution approved by a show of hands on July 6 2011.

The European Parliament's vote comes just ahead of an expected decision by the European Commission to allow EU member states to use body scanners at airports. The European Parliament will have the power to overturn that decision within three months.

MEPs accepted that body scanners would enhance aviation security, but asked EU member states "to deploy technology which is the least harmful for human health" and addresses privacy concerns.

Due to health risks "scanners using ionising radiation should be prohibited in the EU".

No discrimination

Selection for scanning should be random, without any discriminatory criteria, MEPs said, emphasising that "any form of profiling based on, for example, sex, race, colour, ethnicity, genetic features, language, religion or belief is unacceptable".

Particular attention should be paid to the welfare of pregnant women, children, the elderly and the disabled, they said.

Right to opt for alternative screening

Passengers should have the right to refuse body scanning and opt for alternative screening methods that guarantee the same level of effectiveness while respecting their rights and dignity.

"Such a refusal should not give rise to any suspicion of the passenger," MEPs said.

The European Parliament also asked EU countries to supplement checkpoints and security staff, to ensure that passengers are not kept waiting.

No body images, no storage

To protect human dignity, privacy and intimacy, "only stick figures should be used" and "no body images may be produced," MEPs said.

The data "must be destroyed right after the person has passed through the security control and may not be stored", and "the technology used must not have the capabilities to store or save data".

Liquid ban should be lifted in 2013

The carry-on liquids ban must end in 2013, MEPs said, urging EU states and airports to "ensure that adequate technology is available in good time" so that this does not undermine security.

Stricter checks on air cargo

The resolution also called for better checks on air cargo, especially from non-EU countries, particularly when carried on passenger aircraft.

Pointing out that "100 per cent scanning of cargo is not practicable," they asked the European Commission to lay down criteria for determining "high-risk" cargo.

Financing aviation security

Security charges should be transparent and only cover security costs.

EU countries that impose more stringent measures should bear the resulting additional costs, according to the resolution, which also recommended that every passenger’s ticket should show the cost of security measures.

MEPs called for mutual recognition of security measures and one-stop security checks, so that passengers, luggage and cargo at EU airports are screened only once.

Foreign & Commonwealth Office recently published advice for Britons travelling to the San Fermin Festival in Spain, otherwise known as the Running of the Bulls.

The event is a dangerous one and participants have been injured or killed over the years.

The FCO warns those participating should "weigh up the risks of doing so, and understand the consequences if you are injured. You should not participate under the influence of alcohol."

The office advises participants to check their travel insurance policy, as it might not provide cover for those who participate in high-risk activities.

It also warns against petty crime and pick-pocketing; the local authorities will provide safe locker facilities at the Pamplona Town Hall while the local municipal police station has established a lost and found office.

The festival takes place from Wednesday 6 until Thursday 14 July in Pamplona, Spain.

The 29-year-old British Bangladeshi indicated that she felt no sympathy for the three teenagers, who died in a bus crash in the early hours of Tuesday morning, because they were middle class.
Describing their travels as a “gap yaar”, Miss Abdullah even said she smiled when she heard the news because two of the young men killed had double barrelled names.
Her comments immediately sparked widespread revulsion on the social networking site, with hundreds of people describing her as “sick” and “disgusting”.
Bruno Melling-Firth, Conrad Quashie and Max Boomgaarden-Cook, died instantly when the coach they were travelling in to the north of Thailand was involved in a collision with another bus.
Mr Boomgaarden-Cook’s father, described his agony at the loss of his son, saying: “I did not know human bodies could produce so many tears. It is such intense pain that it will never go away.”

Eight Britons thought killed in Thai plane crash 18 Sep 2007
But just hours after the news of the tragedy was reported, Miss Abdullah, who recently published a controversial book about paedophilia, took to her Twitter page to mock their deaths.
She wrote: “Is it really awful that I don't feel sympathy for anyone killed on a gap yaar? That's awful, right? Yes, I'm a terrible person.”
Moments later she wrote: “I actually smiled when I saw that they had double-barrelled surnames. Sociopathic?”
She was forced to post an apology an hour later after other Twitter users flooded her page with comments condemning her.
One wrote: “You really are the sickest person I have come across in a long time, I hope you get no work for the rest of your miserable life.”
Another wrote: “You are not sorry; you were just caught out. If you were sorry you wouldn't have Tweeted TWICE on the subject. You are vile.”
In a statement, Miss Abdullah said: "I'm very sorry about my thoughtless comments on Twitter this morning. I know how it feels to lose a loved one and can understand why people felt sickened by what I said. I apologise to everyone I offended, in particular the families involved."
Miss Abdullah was born in Tower Hamlets in east London and was educated at Queen Mary University.
She has published two controversial novels, Life Love and Assimilation and Child’s Play, which drew condemnation from her native British Bangladeshi community.
She also contributes regularly to The Guardian.
A spokesman for the newspaper said: "Kia Abdullah is an occasional freelance contributor to the Guardian's Comment is Free website.
"She has never been on contract, is not on the staff of the Guardian and has not written for any part of the Guardian since May 2010. The Guardian is not responsible for what occasional contributors write on Twitter."

It is believed the thrill-seeker, in his late 20s and from London, may be paralysed after jumping 40ft into the sea at about 6.30pm on Saturday.
He was pulled from the sea at the East Sussex resort and taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with spinal and head injuries.
His friend jumped into the water after him but escaped unhurt.
RNLI lifeboat helmsman Mark Bell, who helped pull him onto the beach, said he was bleeding from his mouth and was severely bruised.
He said: "Jumping from Brighton's Palace Pier is prohibited for a reason - it's incredibly dangerous at any state of the tide.

Given his fall of 12 metres into one metre of water, it's sadly unsurprising to see the extent of this individuals injuries.
Naturally we hope he makes a full recovery but would advise others to avoid jumping from Brightons pier and groynes - particularly at low water - regardless of how tempting it may appear during this particularly hot weather.

The state of Texas warned U.S. citizens on Saturday to stay away from the border town of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, over the July 4 weekend, saying that the violent Zetas drug cartel was targeting vacationers there.

"According to the information we have received, the Zetas are planning a possible surge in criminal activity, such as robberies, extortions, car-jackings and vehicle theft, specifically against U.S. citizens," said Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, in a press release.

McCraw said U.S. citizens should avoid Nuevo Laredo during the Fourth of July holiday. The city is across the Rio Grande river from Laredo, Texas.

Texas has previously warned Americans about travel to Mexico during holidays and other peak vacations times.

The latest bulletin comes just weeks after a complaint from Mexico's tourism chief Rodolfo Lopez Negrete, who said some of the warnings are "ludicrous" and "misinformed."

High-profile violence has stained the image of Mexico's large tourist centers, although the majority of violence tends to happen away from tourist destinations.

More than 37,000 people have been killed in Mexico since late 2006 when President Felipe Calderon sent the armed forces to crush powerful drug cartels battling for lucrative smuggling routes to the United States.

The U.S. State Department says 111 Americans were reported murdered in Mexico last year, up from 35 in 2007.

 after lawmakers approved a government plan to tighten controls in defiance of warnings that the move would violate European Union rules.
The measures, including increased surveillance and random spot checks on vehicles, comes amid growing debate across the EU over the passport-free travel regime that forms a cornerstone of European unity.
More


Denmark seeks $4bn budget cuts
EU leaders last week ordered a review of the Schengen treaty on free movement of people and goods within the EU, in response to calls from some member states for a change in the rules to allow temporary controls on internal borders.
Denmark’s move followed a similar border clamp-down by France in April aimed at stemming the flow of illegal immigrants from Tunisia across its border from Italy.
The Danish government says its measures are aimed at tackling organised crime gangs from eastern Europe more than migrants from north Africa and insists there will be little impact on travellers or freight traffic.
However, the proposals have drawn sharp criticism from Germany and the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, and fed into the broader sense of strain on European unity amid tensions over the eurozone debt crisis.
Denmark’s centre-right government announced the plans last month under pressure from the nationalist Danish People’s party, whose informal support helps keep the minority coalition in power.
A key parliamentary committee approved the proposals on Friday after lawmakers rejected an opposition bid to overturn them.
Up to 50 additional customs officers are expected to be deployed to Denmark’s road crossings into Germany and Sweden starting next week.
The controls, to be introduced over several years, will also include lower speed limits at checkpoints and monitoring equipment to read vehicle registration plates.
Danish business leaders have warned the measures could hurt the economy and opposition parties have vowed to change the plan if they win a looming general election which must take place before November, with polls predicting a tight race.
In a letter to Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish prime minister, in June, José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, raised “important doubts” about the legality of Denmark’s plan and said Brussels would “take all necessary steps” to enforce EU law.
EU leaders last week asked the commission to present proposals by September on how countries could reimpose checks at their borders – raising the prospect of the first tightening of Schengen rules since they were introduced in 1995.

Until recently, Dr. John Zimmerman never had treated anyone for the effects of bath salts.

Most people, even some doctors, he said, probably didn't even know what they were.

But in the past six months, Zimmerman said, Genesis HealthCare System hospitals where he works in emergency medicine have admitted between 12 and 20 people because of the salts -- three or four of them to the intensive care unit. Another 10 or so have come in with symptoms and have been treated as outpatients, he said.

On Thursday, a 33-year-old Zanesville woman was found dead in her hotel room at the EconoLodge on Seventh Street.

Police found illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia and an open container of bath salts in her room, said Detective Sgt. Ric Roush of the Zanesville Police Department.

The role bath salts played in her death is unknown, Roush said, and this is the first case of bath salts the ZPD has handled that has involved a death.

Originally derived from a plant grown in Africa, the bath salts people are using now are completely synthetic, Zimmerman said. The dangerous ingredient, methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV, produces effects similar to cocaine and LSD, he said, but "it's much more dangerous than just getting people high."

Among other symptoms, the bath salts, which are legal, cause hallucinations, paranoia and suicidal thoughts. They also can produce effects similar to a heart attack, he said.

"These people (using bath salts) can be dangerous, because they lose touch with reality, they lack judgment," Zimmerman said. "And some of these effects do not go away."

Zimmerman treated his first bath salt patient about a month ago. A man came into the emergency room hallucinating and acting paranoid, he said. Zimmerman was able to treat him as an outpatient with antipsychotic drugs, but it doesn't always end that way, he said.

Other than as a drug, Zimmerman said, bath salts have no use. The problem, he said, is they are cheap and can be bought over the counter.

"So people are abusing it by injecting it, smoking it, inhaling it, shooting it up," he said.

At the hospital, Zimmerman said, doctors have no way to test for the salts, so doctors have to treat patients based on symptoms.

The Ohio Department of Health isn't tracking the total number of deaths in Ohio involving the salts.

"This new thing with bath salts is becoming an ever-increasing problem," Roush said. "There absolutely has to be something done quickly to outlaw the use and sale of bath salts.

"Believe me, it's not just here. It's all over the country."

Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz is seeing the effects of the salts, too.

Bath salts have been the subject of a lot of media coverage of bath salts lately, he said. Once the hallucinogenic effects became public knowledge -- along with the fact the salts are legal to snort or inject and can be bought over the counter -- the office saw a rise in cases.

In several cases, Lutz said, the department arrested a suspect on other charges then later found out bath salts were involved, as well.

Neither the ZPD nor the sheriff's office could provide numbers of cases they have handled involving bath salts.

The Ohio House and Senate passed a bill this week banning six common ingredients found in bath salts. These are synthetic derivatives of MDPV which, pending Gov. John Kasich's approval, will be added to the list of illegal hallucinogenic substances.

At least 10 states have made bath salts illegal.

But while the salts still are legal in Ohio, Melanie Richert, chief probation officer for the Muskingum Adult Probation Department, said her office already is taking steps to stop their use among probationers. She couldn't put a percentage or number on it, but she said probationer use of bath salts is "prevalent."

"I would say that it's having the same effect on this county and department as it is in a general sense throughout the entire country," she said.

Richert wouldn't say whether probationers are being tested for the synthetic ingredients found in bath salts, but she said officers discourage them from using the salts, just as they with do with any other drug.

Whether it's legal or not, "anything that can be used as a hallucinogenic intoxicant, that can alter your state of being, would be unacceptable when on probation," she said.

If Kasich does sign the bill, it won't eliminate the use of bath salts altogether, Roush said, but it will deter people and make the salts more difficult to buy.

It's a step in the right direction, he said.

Zimmerman just hopes people learn the negative side effects of the salts and the problem doesn't worsen.

But for those with addictive personalities, he said, it will be hard to stop.

"It's like crack. Once you try it, you crave it," he said.

As a result of the recent breakthrough in a high profile narcotics case in Maldives, the Sri Lankan Police has commenced investigations into a large scale drug trafficking network which is operated in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Currently plans are being made by the police departments of the two countries to coordinate with their investigations in order to thwart the ongoing narcotics trade between Sri Lanka and Maldives.

This move comes in the light of the recent arrest of four key Maldivian drug traffickers who had been allegedly using Colombo as a transit point to smuggle narcotics into Male.

The four who were arrested on June 23, by a special Maldivian narcotics team in an operation code named “Challenge”, have been identified as Hussein Athif, Ibrahim Shafaz Abdu Razzaq, Hussein Athik and Ismail Shameem who have been allegedly involved in the smuggling of drugs via Colombo to Male since 2005.

A senior official from Sri Lanka’s Police Narcotics Bureau told Haveeru that the Sri Lankan officers have been coordinating with police officials in Male and are continuing with the investigations on the recent arrests.

“Our department has been sharing information with the Maldivian authorities and we have been working together with the objective of completely destabilising the Maldives-Lanka drug network. We have been successful in arresting many of those Sri Lankans and Maldivians who have been involved in this network,” he said.

“We have currently gathered vital details related to how the Maldives-Sri Lanka drug network operates and details on those who are involved in trafficking drugs from Sri Lanka to Maldives. We suspect that amongst those involved are high profile Sri Lankan underworld gang leaders who are currently in our custody,” he said.

“We have interrogated many of these suspects and have also gathered several leads from our informants. In the recent case we hope to also question the owners and shopkeepers of the money transfer agency which is in Colombo,” he said.

The Maldivian police recently revealed that money to a Sri Lankan based dealer was sent through an authorised moneychanger A.J.E Emporium in Male, which eventually transferred the money to a Sri Lankan money transfer agent, Gallery, which is a jewellery store located in a prominent shopping complex in Colombo.

In the backdrop of this finding by the Maldivian police, the Sri Lankan authorities are currently probing if the money transfer agent, Gallery had been directly connected to the trafficking of the drugs.

On March 15, Haveeru exposed how sleuths from Sri Lanka’s Police Narcotics Bureau, had identified Maldivians residing in Sri Lanka who have been involved in an international operation concerning the trafficking and distribution of drugs such as heroin, marijuana and hashish.

In the investigations conducted by the Police Narcotics Bureau, the four Maldivians nationals who had been arrested had been identified previously. The Sri Lankan police investigations also revealed that the four Maldivians in question had been having close links to Sri Lankan drug lords who had been wanted for the distribution of large quantities of heroin and hashish.

In 2008, two Sri Lankans were arrested with heroin, worth over US$1 million, in hidden compartments in their luggage as they entered the Male International Airport. Last year the Sri Lanka’s Narcotics Bureau arrested a Maldivian woman who was carrying 9kg of heroin.

Sri Lanka receives a bulk of its drugs, especially heroin from dealers operating in India and Pakistan who use Sri Lanka as a trans-shipment hub for the trafficking of narcotics.

Drug trafficking remains a major problem under the administration of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, who marks his first year in office on Thursday.

According to the 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, "The Philippines continues to face challenges in the areas of drug production, drug trafficking, and internal drug consumption."
Statistics on drug-related cases

Citing statistics from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on February 15 this year, GMA News Research data on drug-related cases involving Filipinos in Asia noted that:

Of the 302 drug-related cases involving Filipinos in Asia, majority of the cases are in China (205 cases); Hong Kong (26); and Malaysia (17);

221 of the cases involve female victims;

majority of the cases involve Filipinos who have been lured to act as "drug mules" by international drug syndicates;

among the drug-related cases involving Filipinos in China; 3 have been meted the death penalty without reprieve; 72 have been meted the death penalty with two-year reprieve; 35 have been sentenced to life imprisonment; 68 have been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment; and 27 cases are still pending.
"The primary drug threat faced by the Philippines continues to be the importation, manufacture, and abuse of methamphetamine hydrochloride, also known as “shabu" in the Philippines," according to the report.

The report was released by US Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in March this year, the same month that three Filipino "drug mules" or drug couriers were executed in China.

The three Filipinos were Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, and Elizabeth Batain who were executed on March 30 this year.

Earlier this year, Aquino ordered the Philippine Department of Justice to determine how Philippine airports failed to detect the contraband that the three Filipinos brought to China in 2008.

The three Filipinos — Credo, 42; Batain, 38; and Ordinario-Villanueva, 32 — were originally scheduled to be executed last February 20 and 21.

The executions were put on hold following the humanitarian visit to Beijing of Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns.

The Supreme People’s Court of China affirmed the death sentences on the three last February 11. Binay went to Beijing upon orders from President Benigno Aquino III on Feb. 18.

Ordinario-Villanueva was convicted for smuggling 4,110 grams of heroin on Dec. 24, 2008 into Xiamen, while Credo was convicted for smuggling 4,113 grams of heroin on Dec. 28, 2008 in Xiamen. Batain, meanwhile, was convicted for smuggling 6,800 grams of heroin on May 24, 2008, in Shenzhen.

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

Anti-drug mule bill

On the same day three Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking in China were executed through lethal injection, Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo also filed the Anti-Drug Mule Bill (House Bill 4503).

“This scheme preys on the vulnerability of many of our poverty-stricken countrymen, mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and, like cancer, attaches itself to their hopes of earning enough to return to their families only to lead them to their deaths and destruction," Quimbo said in a statement.

The measure seeks to include the use or attempt to use drug mules as one of the punishable acts under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 (Republic Act 9165).

The bill defines a drug mule as “a person used by another person, with or without the former’s consent or knowledge, to transport dangerous drugs, of whatever amount and nature, from or through the Philippines to other countries, foreign states, foreign territories or foreign jurisdictions."

If passed into law, a person who “shall use, attempt to use or conspire with any other person to use drug mules" will be penalized with life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P5 million to P25 million.

Drug smuggling continues

According to the US report, "Despite the success of enforcement efforts against the domestic methamphetamine laboratories, high grade methamphetamine produced in other countries continues to be smuggled into the Philippines by transnational drug traffickers."

The report noted that in 2010, "the majority of the seized methamphetamine in the Philippines appeared to have been of foreign origin."

"Although methamphetamine remains the primary drug of choice in the Philippines, marijuana is the second-most abused drug. In addition, many drug users have shifted to using inhalants, the third most commonly abused substance," the report said.

According to the report, numerous arrests in South America and Asia in 2010 showed an increasing trend of Philippine citizens acting as drug couriers.

"It appears that these couriers were employed by international drug syndicates, and typically carried drugs from South America to Asia – although the drugs were generally not destined for the Philippines. As of August 2010, 626 Filipinos had been arrested for drug trafficking offenses in other countries."

"During 2010, lack of judicial reform and slow progress in drug cases continued a trend of very low conviction rates for drug cases. The government recognized problems with the judicial sector and is considering several reforms. The Philippines is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention," the report noted.

Pursuing drug traffickers

The US Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs noted that the Philippine government takes drug trafficking and drug abuse seriously.

However, the bureau noted that "lack of law enforcement resources, the slow pace of judicial and investigative reform, together with a lack of interagency cooperation continue to hamper government efforts to investigate and prosecute higher echelons of drug trafficking organizations operating in the Philippines."

"However, despite these resource and institutional limitations, Philippine law enforcement agencies continue to pursue drug traffickers aggressively. This effort, together with drug education and rehabilitation initiatives, has led to positive results in reducing drug abuse and drug trafficking in the Philippines," the report said.

The bureau said if the Philippines were to increase its "cooperation and coordination among Philippine drug law enforcement agencies such as PDEA and PNP at the national level, through multi-agency initiatives that can draw on different agencies’ strengths and resources, it would have a very positive impact on enforcement effectiveness."

"One specific example of a program that might bring big dividends is an airport-focused interagency program to counter drug couriers transiting Philippine airports, and to detect and deter persons going abroad to act as drug couriers," the report concluded.