Be Wary Of Trusting Friends, Says Ex-Drug Mule

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- When Wan Lidyawati Abdul Majid befriended "Kak Siti" and accepted the latter's offer for a short and 'fun' trip overseas, little did she know that she will be arrested and jailed for four years for smuggling drugs. Wan Lidyawati, 25, was arrested after the authority found 2.2kg of cocaine in her luggage while waiting for a flight home at the airport in Trinidad & Tobago in 2007. Relating the experience today, Wan Lidyawati said she met "Kak Siti" just four months before the latter asked her to join the trip. "Kak Siti", in her 30s, was believed to have motherly appearance and had showed her concern toward Wan Lidyawati, who was then a student at a private college in the city. "She asked me to accompany her on a trip to Trinidad & Tobago. I trusted her and I thought I was old enough to do so. So, I followed her without even informing, let alone asking permission from my mother in Perak. I never thought I would be cheated like this," she said during the "Apa Kata Wanita Zamzarina" (What Say Women Zamzarina) live talkshow on RTM1 Sunday. Present were Deputy Foreign Minister A.Kohilan Pillay and Wan Lidyawati's mother, Sharifah Marina Syed Hamzah. Wan Lidyawati said a few hours before she was due to depart from Trinidad & Tobago airport, she was contacted by "Kak Siti" who told her that she must ensure that her luggage arrived in Kuala Lumpur safely. "When I questioned her, 'Kak Siti' just told me not to panic and that the luggage contained drugs. When I was arrested, I told the authorities to take the bag and let me go, but of course, it was impossible," she said. Wan Lidyawati said during the arrest, all she could think of was her mother. "I know there is no use in regret now. Maybe that is the price I have to pay for not listening to my mother. I have to muster all the strength I have left to call her and tell her that I was arrested for smuggling drugs," she said. With the help from the Malaysian Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, in getting her case postponed and finding an attorney, Wan Lidyawati could finally breathe a sigh of relief when she was only sentenced to four years' jail. Nevertheless, Wan Lidyawati described her time in prison as the biggest lesson of her life. "The food in the prison were awful. There are maggots in the bread given to us," said the woman who returned to Malaysia three months ago after serving the sentence. Meanwhile, Kohilan said the woman was lucky to be sentenced to only four years' jail after being found guilty of carrying quite a large quantity of drugs. "If she were arrested in China or Singapore, she would have been sentenced to the mandatory death penalty," he said. Kohilan said based on statistics, 884 Malaysians drug mules had been arrested abroad so far, 163 of whom were women. "They were usually manipulated by the syndicate which was using a softer approach to lure them to serve as drug mules," he said. While calling on parents to be aware of their children's activities to prevent more Malaysian from being used as drug mules, Kohilan said 40 per cent of those involved were youths aged between 20 and 35. -- BERNAMA