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| 9 packets of cocaine were found inside the 2 bags that Leybag carried |
A Filipino tourist who flew into Hong Kong from Dubai with nearly 4 kilos of cocaine in his bags more than two years ago, was put on trial for drug trafficking starting today at the Court of First Instance.
Antonio S. Leybag, Jr., 66, does not deny that his briefcase and carry-on bag yielded 3.95 kilos of a substance that was nearly pure cocaine, when he was stopped on arrival at Hong Kong International Airport at the height of the Covid pandemic in May, 2022.
However, he pleaded not guilty to the charge of drug trafficking, saying he was unaware of what the bags contained.
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Prosecution, however, is insisting Leybag knew exactly what was inside his bags, and in fact, had admitted to the arresting officer that he was paid US$1,000 by a man in Brazil to transport the cocaine.
He was also said to have “voluntarily” signed a cautioned statement admitting the offence.
According to the prosecution, the street value of the drugs found in Leybag’s possession was $3.588 million.
High Court Judge Amanda Woodcock is presiding over the trial where a jury composed of six men and one woman will decide on the verdict.
Under Hong Kong laws, drug trafficking is a capital offense for which the maximum sentence is life imprisonment and a $5 million fine.
According to the prosecution, Leybag, who was assisted in court by an Ilocano interpreter, arrived on board a Qatar Airways flight from Doha at about 5pm on May 23, 2022.
He had flown out originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and passed Doha on the way to Hong Kong.
Leybag, who was wearing dark-colored hoodie and a windbreaker, passed through the “green lane,” which is reserved for travelers who do not have dutiable goods to declare to customs.
A customs officer conducting random spot checks on arriving passengers stopped him and asked if he did not have anything to declare and he said “no.”
One of the three customs officers who testified on the first day of the trial said that Leybag’s bags were then put through a secondary inspection.
After their apparent contents had all been taken out, he said the bags still felt heavier than normal, so he put them through an x-ray machine, and saw that they contained other things that were not readily apparent.
The officer said he also noticed that the cloth flaps inside the suitcase had glue marks around them. After a hole was drilled into the suitcase, some “white matter” spilled out, so Leybag was held on suspicion of drug trafficking.
At the direction of Judge Woodcock, the officer showed the court where he found the glue marks inside the suitcase, and the hole that was punched to check if there was something hidden underneath the exposed compartment.
Further checks showed that Leybag’s briefcase and suitcase contained a substance weighing a total of 3,951 grams, of which 3,410 grams was pure cocaine.
However, a fingerprint analysis conducted on Aug16, 2022 yielded fingerprints that did not belong to anyone, said the prosecution.
Leybag was cautioned that he had the right to remain silent, and anything he said during the investigation would be put in writing and used against him.
But according to the officer, the defendant chose to give a statement, assisted by an Ilocano interpreter, during which he said he was given a US$1,000 reward for transporting the drugs from Brazil.
The trial continues, and is expected to last until Monday, Dec. 9.
