I was born in 1971 in Hong Kong. I am the youngest in my family and come from a single-parent household, raised by my father. I have an older brother, and no one in my family uses drugs. I have never used drugs and have had no exposure to them since I was young.
At the age of 22, I married my first husband. We had three children together: our oldest daughter is 30 years old, a son who is 25 years old, and our youngest daughter who is 13 years old. I have always taken care of the children by myself. My ex-husband, a printer by profession, was a gambler who never provided enough for our family. I home-schooled all my children and always tried to set a good example.
… Ben asked if I had ever traveled to France and if I could teach him how to take the train once he arrived there. I said I could help and asked if there would be any issues with the goods and if it was legal.
In 2015, I discovered that my husband was having love affairs with other women. I gave him a chance because I didn’t want my children to grow up in a single-parent family like me. But when my oldest daughter saw him with another woman at home, I decided to separate from him. A year later, I met my current husband, who has been very good to my children. He has never given up on me or my children and has helped protect our family.
I have been in custody since December 30, 2021. It all began back in February 2020 when “Robert”, a friend’s boyfriend called me. He asked if I had any friends who could help him bring goods from abroad back to Hong Kong. At that time, I told him I didn’t know anyone who could help. But another friend, “Ben”, who was next to me, took my phone, wrote down the number, and contacted Robert afterward. I was unaware of this at the time.
A few days later, Ben called and said he had spoken to Robert and that he was going to help him bring goods from France to Hong Kong. When I asked what kind of goods, he said ivory powder and rhino horn powder. Ben asked if I had ever traveled to France and if I could teach him how to take the train once he arrived there. I said I could help but I asked if there would be any issues with the goods and if it was all legal. He told me he had been unemployed for a long time and had no money, which is why he had taken my number to contact me.
After that, I lost contact with Ben. On December 29, 2021, customs officials came to my home and arrested me.
When Ben arrived in France, he asked me how to buy train tickets and sent me some photos. He also asked to borrow HK$1,200 (~USD150), saying he had no money for food or transport. He promised to repay me as soon as he got back to Hong Kong. I told him I didn’t have any money because I had just paid for my child’s school books.
When Ben returned to Hong Kong – it was 6:30 am – he called saying he would find me after he cleared Customs to repay me. However, I didn’t hear from him again until his sister called me that afternoon. She told me that Ben had been detained by Customs officials and that he was found to be involved in drug trafficking. That was the last I heard of him. But, on December 29, 2021, Customs officials came to my home and arrested me. The next day, December 30, I was brought to court and have been in custody since.
In 2022, my now-husband hired a lawyer to help us register our marriage whilst I’ve been at the Correctional institution. This way he can be the guardian of my youngest child. He visits me every week during his time off. I have been on remand for three years now.
On November 25, 2024, I will be at the High Court. I have no doubts about the case or the legal proceedings, but I am worried about my husband’s mother, who is 77 years old. I have seen how my husband has been taking care of his mother, accompanying her to medical appointments. She is starting to develop cataracts and has a pacemaker, high blood pressure, and gout. Before all of this happened to me, I always participated in charitable visits to elderly residents living alone with local district council members. Our family takes part in these activities together.
Note: This letter has been translated and edited to improve the readability and clarity of the story. All personal names are fictitious. Switch language to read the letters in the original Chinese.