I am writing this letter to share my sad story and explain why I am in Hong Kong.
I am Portuguese, 40 years old, I have four children and a grandson who is two years old. I lived in Lisbon, Portugal, where I have lived since I was born.
I worked in the kitchen at a university, where I prepared food for students and teachers. They liked my food as much as they liked me, and I enjoyed my interactions with them. The company I worked for lost its contract, and unfortunately all employees were let go, myself included.
For about three or four months, I managed to cover the household expenses with my savings. But as time went on, things got harder because I was the sole provider for my family. When my savings ran out, I could see the household expenses piling up, and sometimes I even had to ask for help to get food for my children.
I have a couple of friends who live in France, friends I’ve known for a long time who used to visit Lisbon on vacation often. We always spent time together, and when I was working and could afford it, I would visit them in France. On one of those trips, they introduced me to an Angolan man at a dinner. We exchanged phone numbers and started chatting by text almost every day, sharing things about our lives. He shared the life he was leading in France, involved in drug trafficking. I didn’t question it; everyone lives their own life. He even said to me a few times that if I needed money, I could work for him. I said no but noticed he would always bring it up in a joking way.
In one of our conversations, when I was venting out of desperation about how high my expenses were and the poor results of my job search, he brought it up again: “If you need money, work for me, and you won’t lack anything.” At that moment, without thinking, only wanting to find a solution for my dire situation, I said, “Explain to me how it works.”
He explained, telling me the amounts, what I would have to do, where I would go, how to do it, and that it was very safe and that nothing would happen. So, I said yes.
The last words I said as I left Portugal were, “See you soon.” They knew nothing.
On November 16, 2023, I had a flight from Portugal to Orly, France, arriving at the airport around 10:00 PM French time. He was waiting for me in the taxi area, and we took a taxi together. We went to a place he called “Gare du Nord,” where we stopped at the only store open at that time, where he bought me a hamburger, juice, and fries. I took it to the room in the inn he had reserved near the Gare du Nord metro station, and he left me there alone, saying he would come back at noon the next day.
The next day, as promised, he was there around lunchtime. He told me to go to the inn, get my things, and my suitcase, as we were going to have lunch, and then he would take me to another place to “work.” At lunch, he explained what I was supposed to do, which involved ingesting the drugs. I was scared and told him I wasn’t sure if it was safe. After lunch, we took a taxi to a B&B near the Gare de l’Est train station, where there was a McDonald’s nearby and a Chinese restaurant next door. He left me there, saying he would be back with more things.
Later that evening, he came back with a plastic bag filled with several round packets, which looked like capsules… I counted, and there were about 100 capsules, each weighing about 10 grams. He explained how to ingest them and the medication I should take.
Later that evening, he came back with a plastic bag filled with several round packets, which looked like capsules. There were also some pills, a condom, water, and some candy. I counted, and there were about 100 capsules, each weighing about 10 grams. He explained how to ingest them and the medication I should take.
He stayed there, watching to ensure nothing went wrong as I ingested them. I managed to ingest 68 capsules throughout the night, but my stomach reacted, and I ended up vomiting several of them. I had to insert the rest into my vagina.
He told me I would deliver the cocaine capsules to someone in Hong Kong and when I returned to France he would pay me seven thousand euros.
The next day, exhausted and sleepless, I headed to Charles de Gaulle airport in France alone, terrified, to catch a 13-hour flight to Hong Kong. During the flight, my stomach was hurting, and I could hardly eat. But I slept until we arrived in Hong Kong, where I was stopped and searched, and they found the drugs hidden in my body. I was detained, far from my family and children, with no idea how long I might be here.
I know and am fully aware of the mistake I made, and I know the pain I’m now causing my family, my children, my partner, my dear mother, and my young grandson. I pray every day that they will forgive me one day. I didn’t mean to bring them this pain. The last words I said as I left Portugal were, “See you soon.” They knew nothing.
I know how wrong I was. Every day, I pray and will keep praying for forgiveness, as I am so terrified and so afraid.
Each day that passes becomes harder for me. I have no news of my family, especially my children. It’s not easy. Every night I pray and ask God for my family, “my little ones,” to be okay, as having little communication leaves me with a tight heart. I cry every night, begging for news about them…. Here, I go to bed hungry, and I lack basic hygiene products. I have no one here.
I have my mother in Portugal, already elderly, and since I ended up here detained, she isn’t well. She writes in her letters that she doesn’t want to die without seeing her daughter again. I’m scared because I know my mother, and I feel she is not lying—she isn’t well. Besides her, I have four children and a grandson. The ages of my children are 15, 17, 20, and 24, and my grandson is two. Although their father is with them and they’re older, I am the pillar of my household, and without me, they’re lost.
I share my story to help others not make the same mistakes, despite financial troubles, issues, or expenses. It’s not worth it.
So, I say this to warn others: don’t ever, ever do this, to be “mules.” No amount of money is worth it—not the distance, the suffering of our family, and, most of all, our health. I was detained on November 10, 2023.
Note: This post is a combination of three letters that have been translated and edited to improve the readability and clarity of the story. Switch language to read the letters in the original Portuguese.