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Travel Warnings: More Than 2,200 Canadians Are in Prisons Abroad

MONTREAL - Seeing the movie Midnight Express should make anyone think twice
about launching a drug-smuggling career. It has been a couple of decades
since the movie adaptation of Billy Hayes's frightening book about spending
time in a Turkish jail for drug smuggling was released, but the story is as
powerful now as it was then -- a reminder that foreign prisons make the
domestic variety look like country clubs.

More than 2,200 Canadians are in prison abroad, many of them for
drug-related offences. If you are arrested in a foreign country, you are
subject to its laws and legal system.

What might be a misdemeanor here could be a serious crime somewhere else.
Possessing marijuana in Thailand, for example, will get you five years in
jail and importing it will get you 15. Smuggle in some heroin, and you
would probably dodge the death penalty Thais face for the same crime, but
you would still end up in jail for the rest of your life.

Thailand is part of the Golden Triangle, and a lot of heroin comes out of
that part of the world. I have been through Bangkok a few times and the
authorities are very serious about arresting smugglers. Backpacks are
always the last items of luggage to come off the carousel at the airport
because they are thoroughly scrutinized. Small-time smugglers often get
hustled for hefty bribes, and if they cannot pay, they go directly to jail.

If you are arrested, you should tell the police you want to meet with a
consular representative. Foreign authorities are obliged under the Vienna
Convention on Consular Relations to grant you access to a national
representative, but only if you request it.

But even if you are lucky enough to be in a country that still has a
Canadian embassy, the consular representatives will not be able to do much
for you. They certainly cannot arrange for your release. They can provide
you with a list of lawyers and help you get in touch with people back home,
but for the most part you are on your own.

Drugs are pretty common on the backpacker circuit. Marijuana is cultivated
just about everywhere and is cheap and easy to find. Some people are so
thrilled, they start over indulging to the point their travel budgets are
blown and they look for ways to supplement their income. Some turn to
stealing from other travellers. Others start doing a bit of freelance
smuggling.

A few years back I was in Goa and started hanging out with some backpackers
who had been in India for more than a year. They had spent the entire time
in Goa, mostly because of the cheap drugs. The local +ACI-chemists+ACI- are
open around the clock and you can buy just about anything without a
prescription. They all told me about how they were going to explore India,
but ended up never leaving Goa. They knew they were wasting their time, but
none had the will to leave.

I knew it was time for me to leave when my new-found friends bought some
medicine that had to be intravenously injected and were wondering how they
could accomplish that task with their dinner forks.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has some True Confessions on its Web site
written by six people arrested for drug charges. For some grim reading,
check www.voyage.gc.ca/consular-e/Drugs/confessions-e.htm.

Even if you are not a drug user, you might still be a target for
traffickers. Be ultra-careful when approaching borders. Keep a close watch
on your luggage and never take someone else's parcels or +ACI-gifts+ACI-
across the border. Young people, especially women, are often unwitting
dupes for smugglers. Women are the mules of choice, because they are less
likely to be searched at customs.

Ultimately, a lot of the young people languishing in foreign jails are
there because of an error in judgment. If you really want to commit a good
deed, you should consider visiting a fellow Canadian in a foreign jail. It
is something that is encouraged by the Department of Foreign Affairs,
although you should arrange such a visit through the department because
some countries place restrictions on who can visit and when.