WHEN she found out she had been carting drugs instead of clothes samples to China, Mary (not her real name) flew back to Singapore disappointed that her boyfriend had lied to her.

But she could give neither him nor the money up. The ex-salesgirl stayed with him, and waded deeper into the murky world of international drug trafficking.

Thinking she would not get her own hands dirty, she became a recruiter instead, roping in a childhood friend and a teen with the same lies she had been told.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.