"It's the little people who get caught and are arrested and imprisoned."
Father John Wotherspoon is an Australian prison chaplain in Hong Kong and the chief executive officer for the NGO Voice for Prisoners. Over the past three decades, he has met countless foreign drug mules in the city's prisons. He listens to their stories and offers them support.
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"We have a special concern for people in prison."
This is Lo Wu Correctional facility, one of the prisons Father John visits.
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Father John helps prisoners communicate with their families by relaying messages. He also helps gather evidence that could help their cases. Over the past eight years, his NGO has been instrumental in the acquittal of 16 people accused of drug trafficking.
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"Coercion is a big problem, and it can come in many forms."
Father John estimates 20% of the drug mules have been duped. He sees them as victims of human trafficking, bearing the consequences of the dangers of the drug trade, while the big fish, as he calls them, go free.
In 2013, Father John saw many Tanzanian drug mules arriving in Hong Kong prisons. He decided to do something to stop more people coming. He started his campaign and, with the help of a prisoner, exposed big drug bosses on his blog. The blog post lit a fire in Tanzania. A year later, Father John travelled to Tanzania to spread his message further. He spoke to several media and drug authorities. His efforts led to tighter security and a significant drop in arrests of Tanzanians in Hong Kong.
Since that first successful trip in 2013, Father John has gone on many other trips to countries where drug mules come from.
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He uses his annual holiday and raises funds by promoting the trip on his blog.
He's been to Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, Brasil, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.
During his trips, Father John also organises meetings with family members of prisoners in Hong Kong. He gives them information about their loved ones and the conditions in the prisons. In some cases, he also helps their families financially, especially with school fees for the prisoners' children. Father John believes that by supporting the children's education, it is less likely they will be lured into criminal activities when they get older.
"When prisoners know I'm going to their country and will see their families, they're very happy.
And once I've seen their family, they and their families sort of regard me as part of the family."
In December 2022, Father John held a meeting with families of prisoners in Johannesburg, one of the biggest drug trafficking hubs in the world.
"He's safe."
On his last trip, Father John visited Uganda, where he met Anne.
Her brother had been arrested in Hong Kong a few months earlier.
She had no idea what had happened to her brother. Father John had to break the bad news to her and explain to her what had happened.
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“Don't do it again.”
Unfortunately, in some cases, prisoners get back into the drug trafficking business when they leave prison. Father John knows that ex-convicts are vulnerable, because they are often rejected by society and struggle to find work. That's why he makes it his mission to keep in touch with former prisoners and offer them help when they need it. He also visits prisons in countries where people are used to smuggle drugs, warning them not to be tricked once they are free.
Father John speaks to prisoners at Langata Women's Prison in Nairobi, Kenya.
Listen to the prisoners sing at mass.
At 78, Father John is not ready to retire yet.
He continues to help and warn as many people as he can.
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“The people I help, whether in prison or homeless people
or drug addicts, have quite an effect on me,” says Father John.
“They've come from broken homes, not much education, been tricked and used and abused. The more I hear about their background, the less judgmental I am.”
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