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| Tsuen Wan Courts building. |
By Vir B. Lumicao
A
Filipina domestic worker was charged in Tsuen Wan Court today, Sept
30, with drug trafficking after accepting an air parcel containing 650
grams of suspected cocaine from her boyfriend in Ethiopia.
Vice
Consul Alex Vallespin, head of the Consulate’s assistance to nationals
section, said Welva E. Gannaban was arrested on Monday as she received
the package delivered at her employer’s home in North Point by customs
and police officers posing as postmen.
The foiled attempt to
smuggle dangerous drugs into Hong Kong using the postal system was the
fourth of its kind this year and the second involving a Filipina,
triggering concern among Consulate officials.
Vallespin
said when his office received the report on Gannaban’s arrest from the
authorities, he sent an ATN officer to interview the woman.
He
expressed concern about Filipinas in Hong Kong being used by drug
traffickers who befriend them online and then send them packages
containing the illegal substance.
In May, a Filipina domestic helper, Eleanor Aromin, was arrested after similarly unwittingly receiving a “present” sent by her African boyfriend via air mail.
She is due to appear in Tsuen Wan Court on Oct 20 for the resumption of her case’s hearing.
