Footprints Recruiting

What if I get into legal trouble abroad?

Wherever you go, you must respect the laws of your host country and realize you are under the jurisdiction of a foreign country. Compared to North American and Western European nations many Asian and South American countries have draconian drug laws. Singapore has a tendency to execute drug smugglers, so resist the temptation of slipping that five-dollar kilogram of hash into your carry on luggage when you are flying in from Cambodia or Laos. If you do end up in the klink abroad there is little your government can or will do to help you out, except send a consular official to visit you once a month to check on your condition. The vast majority of foreigners imprisoned abroad are held on drug charges. Unless you like living on fish heads and rice, sleeping on a concrete floor with five strangers and being woken up every morning with a smack in the mouth do not buy, sell or consume drugs abroad. Another common scam is a local befriends you and offers to sell you drugs at a ridiculously low price. When you accept, a waiting policeman instantly busts you and threatens you with a lengthy jail sentence unless you give him all your money- which is then split between the cop and your erstwhile friend. Don't end up like the suckers who have signs posted in the Internet cafes in Bangkok, "Hi, my name is Joe from St. Louis and I've been in jail here for seven years. I would really appreciate a visitor and some magazines and chocolate….."

Don't do drugs abroad.