Following increase in drug trafficking in the country, information reaching faceofmalawi indicates that a Malawian woman is serving a 7 year jail sentence in an Ethiopian prison for trafficking dangerous drugs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirmed of the development in a statement released on Thursday made available to FOM’s reporter.

According to the Ministry, four other young Malawian ladies are in detention awaiting trial in Ethiopia over similar charges and others are serving sentences in India and Latin America.

“Based on reports from the arrested women, it has been brought to the attention of the Ministry that the victims are either duped or coerced by foreigners (mostly male) to enlist in this illicit drug trade with promises of monetary rewards, better life and sometimes even marriage.

“In some cases, the drug dealers have also approached the victims posing as businessmen trading in products such as cosmetics, artificial hair and other items and have taken the unsuspecting women on business trips to places such as India, Brazil and West African countries unaware that the said businessmen are dealers or traffickers of dangerous drugs including cocaine, heroin and other dangerous narcotic substances,” reads in part the statement.

Added the statement: “In the process, the victims are made to carry luggage (sealed or otherwise) concealing drugs when passing through airport security check points, ending up being arrested.”

The Ministry has since appealed to all Malawians to be vigilant and not to fall prey to fraudsters whenever they are approached by foreigners for business ventures that involve travelling to countries abroad to deliver luggage or parcels to unknown contacts.