INTERVIEW | “I am doing well in the University of Hong Kong, no need to worry about me. I will be back, take care of yourselves. I forgot your phone number,” was the short message Australian priest John Wotherspoon had in his notebook.
Written in Chinese, he was asked to convey it to the family of a Malaysian named Alvin (not his real name), who was living in Hong Kong.
The sad part is that Alvin was not telling his family the truth. The 22-year-old Malaysian was not a student but a drug mule, currently being detained in a Hong Kong prison.
On the very last day of 2023, Wotherspoon was in Malaysia, hoping to convey Alvin’s message to his family. Unfortunately, Alvin only provided the address of his hometown in Selangor, and Wotherspoon didn’t manage to reach Alvin’s family during a rushed two-day trip.
Wotherspoon has been stationed in Hong Kong for many years and since 2013, he has been helping drug mules in Hong Kong prisons, many of whom are Malaysians.
In an interview with Malaysiakini conducted in both English and Cantonese, he estimated that there were 12 cases in 2023 where individuals were arrested for drug trafficking from Malaysia to Hong Kong, and Alvin was one of them.
“About 12 cases this (past) year… but not all of them are Malaysian,” he said, adding that six individuals were Malaysian citizens.
Four years ago, during a media interview, Wotherspoon had already highlighted that at least 40 young Malaysians had been exploited as drug mules and were arrested in Hong Kong.
In this recent interview, he said that while cases involving Malaysian drug mules were not as prominent during the Covid-19 pandemic, there had been a resurgence of crimes of this nature in 2023 with the reopening of borders.
Transporting heroin and cocaine
The white-haired Wotherspoon has meticulously recorded information about drug mules detained in Hong Kong, including their nationality, names, ages, date of arrest, the type and quantity of drugs they were carrying, the process of transporting the drugs, and the length of their sentences.
Among the records are details of three Malaysian drug mules arrested last year. The first is the aforementioned Alvin, who was arrested on Sept 28, 2023, under suspicion of carrying 6kg of heroin into Hong Kong.
The second case involves a 42-year-old woman named Mina (pseudonym) from Johor, who was arrested on June 25, 2023, for transporting 14kg of heroin into Hong Kong.
The third case involves a 51-year-old man named Danny (pseudonym), who was arrested on Sept 22, 2023, for attempting to bring 972g of cocaine into Hong Kong.
All three are currently held in Hong Kong pending trial.
According to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Chapter 134 of the Laws of Hong Kong, anyone convicted of trafficking dangerous drugs faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of HK$5 million.
‘Why do they all depart from KLIA2?’
During the interview, Wotherspoon expressed his perplexity, noting that in the cases of drug trafficking from Malaysia to Hong Kong that he has encountered, almost all of them originated from KLIA.
“All the cases I know are from T2 (KLIA2).”
However, he said he has not yet found an answer to this.
When asked why drug mules can easily transport drugs from Malaysia to foreign countries, he covered his eyes with his hands, hinting that some individuals may choose to “turn a blind eye”.
Wotherspoon revealed that this is his fourth visit to Malaysia, with the first being in 2018.
He said most family members of drug mules are often unaware that their loved ones are imprisoned for drug trafficking.
“They have trouble contacting their family.”
During his visit, he planned to stay in Malaysia for about two days, primarily focusing on meeting with families and attempting to contact the families of drug mules.
Following this, he flew on to Singapore to meet with other families of drug mules.
Assisting drug mules’ kin to visit Hong Kong
Two mothers of drug mules, referred to as Fang and June (pseudonyms), managed to meet with Wotherspoon to arrange their visit to Hong Kong to see their daughters.
They shared the current situations of their daughters with him as well as Jane Chow, who is the chief operations officer of the Hong Kong-based organisation, Voice for Prisoners.
The mothers promptly booked flight tickets and hotel accommodations, scheduling their visits to Hong Kong for February this year to coincide with the Lunar New Year.
After booking the flight tickets, Chow reminded the two mothers to prepare the necessary documents before their departure to facilitate the application for visitation with the Hong Kong authorities.
Fang, speaking to Malaysiakini in Mandarin, said she was calmer compared to her first visit to see her daughter in 2018, which was her first time travelling abroad.
“The first time I went to see her, I wasn’t particularly excited. When we first met, she cried. I couldn’t help but cry, and her mood was very low.”
Trap of high compensation, ‘gifts’
Fang revealed that her daughter was sentenced to 15 years and 9 months in prison in 2018 for trafficking drugs to Hong Kong.
“She was carrying drugs, placed on the side of the shoes and under the shoe soles.”
She explained that her daughter, at the age of 22, had informed her that she was going to Genting Highlands with friends but went missing for a week.
Fang further explained that her daughter got involved in a drug trafficking scheme, where the mastermind offered her a substantial reward of RM5,000 or RM8,000 for transporting the so-called “gift” to Hong Kong.
“That person invited her to a hotel to give her the ‘gift’. When she arrived there, they asked her to change her shoes. That’s when she found out the so-called ‘gift’ was carrying (drugs) in her shoes. That’s how she got caught in Hong Kong.”
June, a single mother, mentioned that her daughter was only 25 years old at the time of her arrest in 2019, adding that she was somewhat rebellious, and had not lived with her after reaching adulthood.
She only received the news of her daughter’s arrest two months after the fact.
She displayed a news article from a Hong Kong media outlet dated Sept 20, 2019, titled “Police Arrest Four Tourists Suspected of Trafficking HKD 20 million worth of Drugs”.
According to the article, June’s daughter and her friend were arrested for carrying 18 litres of liquid cocaine and 300g of ketamine into Hong Kong.
Her daughter was eventually sentenced to almost 16 years in prison after pleading guilty. - Mkini
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