NEW DELHI, June 29 (UPI) -- A bumper crop of Afghan opium could result in more Asian women being recruited as drug mules, authorities said Sunday.
Indian and Pakistani drug enforcement officials told attendees at a New Delhi conference that Southeast Asian governments will probably see a trend of women from such countries as Thailand and the Philippines being recruited by African drug dealers to smuggle opium, the Malaysian national news agency Bernama reported Sunday.
A.P. Siddiqui, India's Narcotic Control Bureau's deputy director, said production of Afghanistan's opium, a raw material for heroin, would surpass 8,000 tons in 2008, almost doubling the world's supply. A flood of opium will pass through India and Pakistan with China emerging as a buyer, and dealers are expected to recruit Southeast Asian women as smugglers to get it there.
"First the Nigerians were using Thai women, but after we arrested them they shifted to other nationalities like Filipinos and Indians from the northeast," Siddiqui said. "They are feeling the heat."
"It is Nigerian gangs that are involved in these peddling activities as per our initial investigations and women passengers work as carriers for payments," added Indian Director of Revenue Intelligence P. Babu.
