The prison chaplain who has stopped 150 drug mules reaching Hong Kong

Father John Wotherspoon has been fighting an anti-drugs campaign since 2013. As a prison chaplain, he has met his fair share of smugglers who want their family and friends to stop bringing drugs into Hong Kong and stay out of jail.

Since he convinced a Tanzanian drug mule to write a letter home warning people not to follow his footsteps four years ago, Wotherspoon, 70, has made the issue his top priority.

“I would estimate the campaign has stopped one drug mule a week from coming to Hong Kong over the last three years,” he said. “Most of them carry at least 500 grammes, a lot of them have more than one kilo. That’s stopped 50 kilos of drugs from going on the streets of Hong Kong.”

Wotherspoon’s campaign has helped prisoners, too – more have written similar letters and received reduced sentences.

“At that stage, nobody mentioned anything about ‘if you write a letter, the judge might give you a discount’. It wasn’t on their minds.

“Now, as soon as they’re arrested, I tell them about the campaign. Nobody has to join it, but I’d say a third do join it. Then I take [the letters] to court with my support letter.