Joy Adalia
Reports have surfaced that Mary Jane Veloso’s supposed recruiter allegedly used geckos to smuggle drugs when her local community appeared to have gotten wind of her illegal activities, reports GMA News.
Photo credit: Inquirer
Ma. Cristina Sergio, Veloso’s alleged recruiter, was said to have gone on a shopping spree for geckos in 2011, for no apparent reason, claims her neighbors in a sworn statement before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). This led the neighbors to believe that she was using it for illegal drug trade, in which she is supposedly known for in the area.
Buying Geckos for Trade?
Of course, if you can remember, back in 2011, there was a boom in the buying and selling of geckos over claims they can cure HIV/AIDS and cancer. This trade even saw many people became rich as sick patients were more than willing to pay hundreds of thousands of pesos (some even paid over a million pesos!) just to have a gecko!
It came to a point wherein the trade received the attention of international media as the transactions are fraudulent and there has never been real proof that geckos can cure these deadly diseases.
Still, it was possible that Sergio was merely trading geckos for money with these sick patients.
Research on Drug Smuggling Using Geckos
The gecko trade angle would have worked if the NBI did not retrieve data from the computer of Sergio’s neighbor. The recruiter allegedly used this computer to research on how to cut open a gecko and insert drugs to avoid being detected.
Using this modus, the NBI believed Sergio was able to close a lot of deals.
Involvement in Notorious Syndicate?
According to earlier reports citing statements from the police and the NBI, Sergio had supposedly admitted to being part of the notorious West African drug syndicate which operates not just in the Philippines but the rest of Southeast Asia as well. These reports mentioned that the recruiter has been part of the group since 2010.
The reports were belied by Sergio’s owner, however, saying his client did not make such a sworn statement to the authorities.
