Filipino tourist found with 6 kilos of suspected cocaine

 

This cocaine haul has a market vaue of $3.6 million

A 22-year-old Filipina who flew in from Phnom Penh, Cambodia on October 31 was arrested on arrival at the Hong Kong International Airport after 6 kilos of suspected cocaine was found inside her check-in suitcase.

The drugs have an estimated market value of about HK$3.6 million.

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A government said the cocaine was discovered after the woman was stopped for customs clearance.

The woman will appear at West Kowloon Magistrates today, Monday, charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug.

The drug route and the kind of drug seized varies from the usual cases involving Filipino tourists arriving in Hong Kong recently. Most of those stopped at HK Airport in recent months had flown in from Bangkok, Thailand, carrying with them several kilos of suspected cannabis or marijuana buds.

Basahin ang detalye!

Customs says it will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities using intelligence analysis.

Travelers or residents are strongly advised not to engage in drug trafficking activities for monetary return, as the offence is punished with stiff prison sentences in Hong Kong. They must not carry unknown items for other people, in and out of Hong Kong.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, the  maximum penalty for trafficking in drugs is life imprisonment and a fine of HK$5 million.

Any suspected drug trafficking activities should be reported to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

2 elderly women among 10 arrested in anti-illegal work raids

 

Immigration officers show items seized during the raids

Eight women, including one who is 63 years old, were among 10 people arrested in the latest anti-illegal work operations led by Immigration Department Officers.

DETAILS HERE

Two of the women were also found to hold recognizance forms which allow them to remain in Hong Kong to pursue asylum, but not to take on any job, paid or unpaid.

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One other person, a man aged 26,  was found to have overstayed, while another, also a 63-year-old woman, was suspected of employing the illegal workers.

The territory-wide arrests were made from October 23 to 29, in an operation that targeted multiple locations, including restaurants, flats under renovation and massage parlors.

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A statement from Immigration said an investigation is continuing into the suspected illegal work, which could lead to more arrests.

The statement also repeated the warning that illegal work amounts to violation of condition of stay, which is punishable with up to two years in prison and HK$50,000 in fine.

Basahin ang detalye!

If the offender is an overstayer, recognizance paper holder and illegal immigrant, the maximum jail term is three years.

Employers face the stiffer penalty of up to 10 years in jail and a maximum fine of HK$500,000.

Employment agent acquitted of conspiracy to defraud

 

Shatin Court

An employment agent accused of conspiring with a visa applicant to defraud the Immigration Department, has been acquitted by the Shatin Court which declared that she had no case to answer after the testimony of a woman she was accused of conspiring with.

Kathleen Emily Vizcarra, 36 years old, had been charged with violation of Common Law and punishable under section 1590(6) of the Crimes Ordinance.

Magistrate Raymond Wong stopped the trial after the testimony of Anabelle Waguis, 44 years old, who said she was assisted by Vizcarra when she applied for an employment visa under a new employer between August 2022 and October 12, 2025.

DETAILS HERE

She testified that Vizcarra was wearing a face mask the whole time, and saw only her eyes and forehead, thus raising doubts about how she could positively identify her.

Magistrate Wong also found no evidence of conspiracy in Waguis’ testimony. He told Vizcarra: “There’s nothing you have done to cause suspicion” of irregularity

Vizcarra had been charged with conspiring with Waguis, , who had earlier pleaded guilty in a separate but related case, to defraud the Director of Immigration and his officers, by dishonestly and falsely representing that Waguis entered into a domestic helper contract with Ng Yuk Man.

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The misrepresentation induced the Immgration officers “to act contrary to their public duty, namely to grant (Waguis) permission to enter and remain in Hong Kong in circumstances which they would not otherwise have granted.”

Last July 15, Shatin Court’s Acting Principal Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong postponed the sentencing of Waguis for overstaying and lying to the Immigration Department to obtain an employment visa, to allow her to help authorities in prosecuting people who helped her commit the offenses.

Waguis had earlier pleaded guilty to breach of condition of stay contrary to section 41 of the Immigration Ordinance, and making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining an entry permit contrary to section 42(1) (c) of the Immigration Ordinance.

PINDUTIN ITO PARA SA DETALYE

After being detained for six months after her arrest in October 2025. she was released on bail of $5,000 last March, and has since stayed at a shelter for OFWs in Taipo.  

Magistrate Cheang extended her bail and adjourned the case for sentencing.

Waguis was charged by the Immigration Department with overstaying between July 6, 2023 and October 12, 2025.

Basahin ang detalye!

She had been permitted to land in Hong Kong by an Immigration officer with a condition that limited her stay in Hong Kong until September 22, 2022 or two weeks after termination of contract, whichever is earlier.

The second charge involved Waguis lying to Immigration on September 19, 2022 in Hong Kong for the purpose of obtaining an entry visa to Hong Kong to take up employment as a domestic helper.

In her visa application, she stated that she was going to work for Ng Yuk Man as a domestic helper, which was not true.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12.  She is on bail of $5,000. 

Search on for women softball players as longtime team captain bows out

 

Fate's late team manager Law Wai Ho with his 'babies', including Don (beside him, with glasses)

The manager of the all-Filipino softball team in Hong Kong is looking for new players to join the upcoming league season of the HK China Softball Association which starts middle of next month.

The announcement came as Don Gaborno, co-founder, team captain and star player of the Fate softball team that was formed 14 years ago, announced her decision to take a break from the sport, citing exhaustion and a lack of incentive to carry on.

DETAILS HERE

The search for new players was announced by Pamela, daughter of Gaborno’s co-founder and Fate’s beloved manager Law Wai Ho, who passed on in June 2022.

The team is now looking for pitchers, catchers, and all other positions that Filipinos or other non-local players may fill. But they must commit to joining weekend league games and team practices at their home pitch at Tin Kwong Road, or occasionally in Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon.

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Those interested should contact Coach David through his WhatsApp number: 91893848, or by email at davidwong2006@gmail.com.

Since its founding in December 2012, and with Law Wai Ho’s moral and financial support, Fate quickly managed to get into the Hong Kong Softball Association League, and won many of its games that it eventually joined the elite Bracket A category.

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Law is remembered fondly by his Fate “babies”for not only paying for the team’s uniform, equipment and registration fee to the HKSA annual league, but for always making an effort to be with them during their Sunday trainings and games.

Convicted drug trafficker gets another 3 months for theft

 

Kowloon City Court

A Filipina asylum-seeker who had just been sentenced by the High Court to 20 years and eight months for drug trafficking, was given an additional jail term of three months on Friday (October 30) for stealing a moble phone.

Rosita Palao, 56 years old, was convicted of theft, contrary to section 9 of the Theft Ordinance, for stealing one mobile phone worth $11,269 on February 9, 2026, outside Isquare on Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

Magistrate Claudia Ng said she finds no reason to deduct from the sentence she imposed on Palao, who had worked as a domestic helper for 15 years before overstaying and subsequently filing for non-refoulement, after a trial at Kowloon City Court.

The fact that she commited the theft while seeking non-refoulement, which seeks to prohibit Hong Kong from deporting her, is an aggravating factor because it breaches Hong Kong’s hospitality, the magistrate added.

DETAILS HERE

She ordered the new sentence to run after the High Court sentence runs out.

Last Wednesday, Palao was found guilty after trial for drug trafficking, for trying to pick up on May 15, 2023 a consignment of liquid cocaine that had been brought into Hong Kong by her American co-defendant Stephen Dickensheets, 68.

Dickensheets had flown into Hong Kong the day before from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Paris, France, with a check-in luggage containing 17 bed sheets soaked in liquid cocaine. He was arrested while undergoing secondary check at customs clearance.

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Customs originally put the amount of cocaine found in his possession to be 10 kilos, but the amount was downgraded to 1.5 kilos after extensive examination by the Government Laboratory. The street value of the haul was put at HK$1.9 million.

Because of his cooperation with the authorities which led to the arrest of Palao and a third defendant, Nigeria and Benin national Fousseni Orou Nicki, Dickensheets received a reduced sentence of 19 years and 8 months.

Basahin ang detalye!

Fousseni, also an asylum seeker, received the longest sentence of 21 years and 8 months, after the court found him to be the key player in the operation, having directed Palao to pick up the drugs from Dickensheets at a hotel in Tin Shui Wai.

Filipina asylum seeker, 2 others get 20 years' jail for drug trafficking

 

The cocaine-soaked bedsheets found in Dickensheets' luggage

A High Court judge has sentenced a 56-year-old Filipina asylum seeker to 20 years and 8 months in jail after she was found guilty after trial for drug trafficking, along with two others.

Rosita B. Palao who had worked as a domestic helper for 15 years before overstaying and subsequently filing for non-refoulement, was arrested on May 15, 2023 as she tried to pick up a consignment of liquid cocaine that had been brought into Hong Kong by her American co-defendant.

DETAILS HERE

United States national Stephen Dickensheets, 68, had flown into Hong Kong the day before from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Paris, France, with a check-in luggage containing 17 bed sheets soaked with the liquefied drug. He was arrested while undergoing secondary check at customs clearance.

Customs originally put the amount of cocaine found in his possession to be 10 kilos, but the amount was downgraded to 1.5 kilos after extensive examination by the Government Laboratory. The street value of the haul was estimated to be about HK$1.9 million.

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Because of his cooperation with the authorities which led to the arrest of Palao and a third defendant, Nigeria and Benin national Fousseni Orou Nicki, Dickensheets received a reduced sentence of 19 years and 8 months.

Fousseni, also an asylum seeker, received the longest sentence of 21 years and 8 months, after the court found him to be the key player in the operation.

He was arrested much later than the two, after police investigators traced him from the telephone number he used in directing Palao to pick up the drugs from Dickensheets at a hotel in Tin Shui Wai.

Basahin ang detalye!

All three denied any knowledge about the drugs haul.

Dickensheets told the court he thought he was meant to deliver only gifts, and did not know that the bed sheets in the suitcase that was passed on to him in Brazil contained drugs.

Palao said she merely volunteered to pick up Mother’s Day gifts, at the instruction of a Chinese person she only knew as “Tear,” who communicated with her only by telephone.

Fousseini who was granted leave last year to appeal Immigration’s rejection of his non-refoulement claim, denied being Tear, who directed Palao to pick up the drugs.

But law enforcers testified tracing the phone messages and calls made to Palao to Fousseni, who was also found to have been in regular contact with the Filipina since 2021.

In sentencing, Judge DÁlmada Remedios told Palao and Fousseni that they had betrayed the trust placed on them by the Hong Kong authorities by committing a serious crime while on recognizance, or while awaiting the result of their application for non-refoulement.

The international element of the offence that all the accused were found to have committed, also merited a more severe penalty.

FDH agrees to settle claim to flat left by late Chinese fiancée

 

Nora outside District Court, pushing a suitcase and bag containing documents pertaining to the flat

For nearly five years she had clung to the hope that the flat she claimed was left to her by deceased Chinese fiancé would eventually be transferred in her name, but without a title, will or even a letter to prove her stake there was no way she could have legally claimed it as hers.

On Tuesday, October 27, Nora Rafanan Madriaga, finally agreed to surrender possession of the two-bedroom Home Ownership flat in Tai Wo Hau to Lee Wai Hung, brother of her late fiancé, Lee Wai-man

“Pagod na ako,” (I am tired) Nora, who is in her 40s, said after agreeing to settle her claim for a fraction of what had been originally offered her shortly after Wai-man died of liver cancer in December 2021.

DETAILS HERE

Nora said Wai Hung had initially offered her HK$1 million in exchange for passing on the title and keys to the flat, but she resisted, saying she was given wrong advice. Instead, she demanded no less than HK$1.7 million.

The offer went down to HK$500,000 by March last year after she took out a writ at the District Court to press her claim, but she still resisted.

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At the time, she was still being represented by counsel whom Nora said she had paid around HK$250,000 from the proceeds of several insurance policies Wai-man had taken, naming her as beneficiary.

But by the time her claim was scheduled for trial on Monday, Nora no longer had a lawyer, saying she had no money to continue paying the hefty legal fees. Wai Hung, on the other hand, had secured counsel from Legal Aid, and was no longer in a position to offer much in compromise settlement.

Wai Hung and his wife leave court after settling the case with Nora

They agreed that Nora would be given HK$10,000 after she vacated possession of the flat and turned over relevant documents and the keys she had kept since Wai-man’s death. The offer was originally HK$20,000 but she could not account for some of the documents she was meant to surrender.

Nora also undertook to vacate the attachment of her writ to the flat so it could be sold. Once sold, and subject to the balance left after the legal charge was paid, she will be paid an additional HK$80,000.

Basahin ang detalye!

When she asked if there was any guarantee that she would be paid this amount in future, Judge Harold Leong said it was up to Wai Hung to decide whether he wanted to sell, but if he does sell, then he’s legally bound to pay her the agreed price.

But to appease her, Judge Leong told the Legal Aid lawyers that they must remind Wai Heung about his undertaking to pay Nora if the sale goes through.

Outside court, Nora said her heart still ache from Wai Man’s death just a month before they were supposed to marry, after nearly eight years of being in a relationship. She proudly displayed a ring that she said was part of a set that her late fiancée had bought for them shortly before he was diagnosed with cancer.

Nora said that throughout her fiancee’s three-month battle with the disease she had stayed by his side, with blessings from her employer who lives just across Wai Man’s flat,  and who was fast friends with him and his late mother.

In turn, Wai Man had reportedly been extra good to her, treating her to fancy restaurants on her days off, and even giving her a monthly allowance after they officially became a couple in 2014. She said even his family, including his mother and brother Wai Hung, treated her well.

She was thus relieved when on the second day of the court hearing, she saw Wai Hung’s wife who was in court with him, smile for the first time since they tangled because of her claim. Nora hopes this would soon pave the way for them to leave the animosity behind, especially as she is already thinking of returning to the Philippines for good. 

2 FDHs investigated after jewelry worth US$10m went missing in Stanley home

 

Bauhinia Garden where the alleged theft took place

Two foreign domestic helpers are being questioned after two pieces of high-end jewelry with an estimated combined value of US$10 million (HK$78 million) were reported missing from a luxury home in Stanley on Thursday afternoon.

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Police reported receiving a call from a female resident of Bauhinia Garden on Chung Hom Kok Road at about 1pm earlier today, saying the jewelry from two high-end brands that were kept inside a cabinet were missing.

They were described as a Boghossian pearl necklace and a Cartier diamond necklace, both of which would have been priced in the millions of dollars.

Christie's priced this Boghossian pearl & diamond necklace at between HK$8m-HK$12m

The female resident was said to have just returned from a trip abroad. She reportedly told the police she had left the two necklaces inside the cabinet before leaving for the United Kingdom last month.

Only her elderly mother and two domestic helpers were left at home while she was away.

Basahin ang detalye!

The resident told police the domestic helpers whose nationalities were not disclosed, must have stolen the valuables.

Officers who went to the house to investigate have classified the case as theft, but made no arrests.

A police spokeswoman said the reported theft is still being investigated, including as to the correct value of the missing jewelry.

(The SUN will update the story if more details emerge)

Pinay in $6.4million money laundering case jailed 3.5 years

 

A Filipina who opened accounts in eight banks and then sold them for sums ranging from $500 to $3,000, resulting in their ending up being used as depository for $6.4 million raised in scams, was sentenced today by the District Court to 40 months and 26 days in prison.

Vermadel Canonero, 49 years old, wiped away tears as Deputy District Judge Ivy Chui read her decision convicting Canonero for eight counts of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence, contrary to section 25(1) and (3) of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance and one count of breach of condition of stay, contrary to section 41 of the Immigration Ordinance.

Canonero admitted to selling her eight bank accounts that were used to launder money made from various scams or fraudulent transactions.

Judge Chui imposed a starting point of 48 months’ imprisonment for money laundering on Canonero but gave her a one-third discount because she pleaded guilty, to come up with 32 months. With 25 per cent enhancement of the sentence to serve as deterrent, the sentence came up to 40 months.

She also sentenced Canonero to 26 days for overstaying in Hong Kong.

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Judge Chui said investigation showed that the HK$6,448,441.27 came from scam victims in what appears to be the longest money laundering activity ever linked to a foreign domestic worker, spanning a period of more than two years, from Apr 16, 2022 to Nov. 13, 2024.

She cited three ways in which the victims were scammed.

Some received a call from “Customber Assistance” informing them that their bank account had been accidentally  overdrawn and asking for their PIN to be able to correct the situation. Some were informed that they applied for insurance, chargeabe to their bank account; since they did not make such application, a supposed “Customer Assistance” personnel offered to erase it, using their bank account PIN. Another method was an employment scam, details of which judge Chui did not elaborate.

Canonero opened her first bank account with Mox Bank on Apr 16, 2022, and kept it active until July 13, 2024. During that period, tainted money totaling $3,053,717.57 passed through the account.

Basahin ang detalye!

The second charge involves a ZA Bank account in her name, where a total of $775,475.86 in illicit money was funneled between Nov. 23 2023 and Jun 9, 2024.

Between Mar 4, 2024 and Apr 22, 2024, Canonero’s account at digital services company HKT Payment Ltd was used in laundering a total of $766,823.34.

Between Mar 27, 2024 and Nov. 13, 2024, another account in her name with China Citic Bank was used to launder a total of $261,626.80.

Between Mar 25, 2024 and Jul 5, 2024 a total of $536,919.61 was laundered in her account with Airstar Bank, Ltd.

Between Apr 8 and 18, 2024, Canonero’s account with Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was used to launder $229,330.

Between Apr 8, 2024 and Jul 4, 2024 a total of $345,000 was laundered using her account with Bank of China.

Finally, her Livi Bank account was used to launder a total of $479,548.09 between May 22, 2024 and Aug 12, 2024.

Judge Chui cleared Canonero of the ninth charge -- breach of her visa condition by overstaying, having been permitted to remain in Hong Kong as a domestic helper only until June 9, 2024 but staying until her arrest on Mar 17, 2025 -- because the prosecution did not offer evidence.

She was instead convicted of remaining in Hong Kong after the expiration of her visitor visa on Nov. 18, 2024.

Peso breaches 64 to US$1, analysts say it could dip further

 

The peso dropped in value for the sixth straight day when it dipped to 64.17 to the dollar Tuesday

The Philippine peso dipped to a new record low of 64.17 to $1 on Tuesday, before recovering slightly to close at 64.025 to $1 on Wednesday.

Tuesday was the sixth consecutive trading day that the peso reached a historic low, and the 33^rd time this year that it bottomed out.

With the rapid decline of the national currency’s value and no relief in sight in the near term, analysts say the peso could soon be hitting the 65-to-a-dollar level.

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The peso’s fall is attributed to several factors, including a strong US dollar and expectations of higher interest rates in the United States, the Philippine’s large trade and fiscal deficits, declining foreign investments and weaker dollar inflows, due in part to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has sought to allay concerns over the 64-to-a-dollar breach, saying the government is doing all it can to defend the peso.

"People can take solace (in) the fact that our policy towards the peso is to continue to defend the peso as hard as possibly we can. We have all the tools to defend the peso. We have all the means to defend the peso," Marcos said Wednesday.

Basahin ang detalye!

But the analysts say the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is right in not propping up the peso each time because of the country’s dwindling dollar reserves.

Marcos attributed the drop in the currency’s value to the continuing rise in oil prices due to the Mideast conflict.

But he said the government is doing everything to bring down food prices, which have risen considerably because of the oil crunch.

Amid the dire outlook, some economists say the seasonal rise in remittances and bonus payments to business process outsourcing staff could bring some relief before the year-end.

 

Pinoy, Chinese jailed for damaging doors

 

District Court

A Filipino was jailed for 20 months while his female Chinese co-accused was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment by the District Court after they pleaded guilty to 11 counts of criminal damage to other people’s front doors, and then failing to appear in a lower court’s hearing while on bail.

Jose Antonio Peralta, aged 51 years, and Tsang Pui-ki, aged 45, were sentenced on Monday (October 26) by Judge Stanley Chan.

The two pleaded guilty to violation of sections 60(1) and 63(2) of the Crimes Ordinance as each of the criminal damage charges was read to them, and failing to surrender to custody without reasonable cause, contrary to section 9L(1) and (3) of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance.

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The duo’s string of offenses began on August 11, 2021, when they damaged the front door and iron gate of Room 920, Shin Lai House, Shin Ming Estate, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories -- the first of eight charges where they were jointly charged.

This was followed by the following:

·       On August 11, 2021, they damaged the door and front gate of Room 2401, Ko Sui House, Ko Cheung Court, Yau Tong, Kowloon.

·       On August 13, 2021, they damaged the door and iron gate of Room 204, Shin Leung House, Long Shin Estate, Yuen Long, New Territories.

Basahin ang detalye!

·       On August 16, 2021, they damaged the iron gate of Room 907, Wang Fu House, Wang Tau Hom Estate, Wang Tau Hom, Kowloon.

·       On August 17, 2021, they damaged the door and iron gate of Room 3209, Ching On House, Tsz Ching Estate, Tsz Wan Shan, Kowloon.

·       On August 18, 2021, they damaged the door and iron gate of Room 1103, Ming Yu House, Kin Ming Estate, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories.

·       On September 10, 2021, they damaged the door and iron gate of Room 2402, Yue Sang House, Kin Sang Estate, Tuen Mun, New Territories.

·       On September 13, 2021, they conspired with a person known as "Mr. Lau to damage the door of Room 3417, Tak On House, Hau Tak Estate, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories.

Tsang, on her own, committed the following:

·       On August 18, 2021, damaged the front door of Flat G, 15th Floor, Block 2, Beneville, No. 18 Tuen Kwai Road, Tuen Mun, New Territories.

·       On September 6, 2021, damaged the door and iron gate of Room 911, Tao Tak House, Lei Cheng Uk Estate, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon.

·       On September 10, 2021, she damaged the door and iron gate of Room 1019, Lee Fung House, Lee On Estate, Ma Shan On, New Territories.

The two were subsequently arrested and charged before the Kwun Tong Court, which released them on bail after a hearing.

However, the two did not show up for their next hearing on July 5, 2022, which led to their arrest and elevation of their case to the Distrct Court.