With the arrest of the Bali 9 and other young Australians now detained in the squalor of various Asian prisons, I began to wonder how they ended up on such a path.

Some of these kids are ordinary kids from ordinary families living in quiet suburbia. Some have loved ones who care very much what happens to them, and probably once thought that their child would go on to do great things. Yet they became drug mules.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is the abject poverty that has driven many youngsters to risk their lives, in order to make life better. There is the hope they won’t get caught and that a one time deal that will erase the problems threatening to overwhelm them.

“Who’s stupid enough to strap drugs to their body?”
“Who’s desperate enough to do it?”

In 2002, Nguyen Tuong Van, a 23 year old Australian of Vietnamese origin strapped 400 grams of heroin to his body in the hope of making enough money to pay-off his twin brother’s heavy debts. Arrested and convicted later in 2004, Nguyen Tuong Van has received the death sentence and is waiting the outcome of his appeal as he ponders his mistakes in the notorious Changi Prison in Singapore.

I’m sure Van’s mother too, wonders if her son’s life will be spared at the last minute; or if he will hang by his neck until dead in a Singapore prison, as payment for one very stupid mistake.

Van’s Petition: Click Here

If like me, you’ve ever wondered how it is that young kids can be turned into ‘drug mules’, then I urge you to watch a documentary film based on the true story of Maria Alvarez – ‘Maria Full of Grace’.

Maria Alvarez, is a spirited 17-year-old Colombian who smuggles heroin into the U.S. in the form of 62 pellets she swallows before the long flight to New York – where her payoff await.

This story dispels many myths about the drug world and the drug dealers who are often nothing at all like those ghastly characters portrayed in Hollywood films.

Maria Full of Grace is not a great film, but in its simplicity it is powerful. It is a must see for anyone who has ever, or is thinking of, strapping drugs to their body; or for anyone like me, who’s ever wondered how our children become Drug Mules.

http://www.mariafullofgrace.com