Drugs lead to a dead end

I am a Hong Kong citizen. I want to share my story about why I am in Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre waiting in custody to get a sentence. 

I hope when you read this letter you take the time to reflect on how important is your life, friends, family, and all the things that freedom offers. And even if you are having some difficulty finding a job or a good way to earn a living in these COVID-19 times, never choose any wrongdoing. Never choose to deal with drugs because certainly, you will end up in jail for a very long and sad time.

Trust me. Being in jail is the worst experience. This is so bad that just in the last ten months I saw how two people preferred to take their lives and finish this sad moment.

Continue reading Drugs lead to a dead end

When the System fails a child

I am a 29-year-old Hongkonger, currently held in custody at the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre under drug trafficking charges. This is my story.

My father is from Hong Kong and my mother is from mainland China. She gave birth to me in Hong Kong while overstaying her visa. They divorced when I was little, and my father now has another family.

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The trap I fell into

It all started when I met a man at Taboo – a bar located in Wanchai. The man has dark skin and calls himself Mapan, from America. I had known him for one month only. 

On one Sunday night, which was my last encounter with him, he offered to pay for my drink and gave me HKD1000 to pay for food and a taxi to get home since it was already late at night and the MTR had closed. I originally wanted to go home earlier but he told me to stay, that’s why he gave me money to go home. I arrived home around 3 am that night.

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My life in pieces

I am 39 years old. I was arrested on January 30, 2021, for trafficking in dangerous drugs, and I am currently detained in Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre.

In December 2016 I was arrested and sentenced to five years and eight months for trafficking dangerous drugs and was released from prison on January 12, 2019. A month after my release, I got a job as a porter, but as fate would have it, I was injured at work three months later and couldn’t work anymore, so I had to rely on the compensation to make ends meet. Continue reading My life in pieces

Jade, souvenirs and ketamine

This letter details the facts of my drug trafficking case for which I was arrested in January 2020. I will have a hearing in the High Court soon. My lawyers said I would face 19 years imprisonment.

My ordeal started back in December 2019, when my boss Ken called me for a job bringing some souvenirs to Hong Kong from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Because I had lost my passport and had to re-apply for a replacement, my trip was arranged for January 19-21, 2020.

Continue reading Jade, souvenirs and ketamine

Colombia hails arrest of alleged drug kingpin

Colombia’s armed forces have captured Dario Antonio Usuga, known as “Otoniel”, in the biggest blow to drug trafficking in the Andean country since the death of Pablo Escobar, President Ivan Duque said on Saturday.

Otoniel, 50, was captured during operation Osiris in a rural area of Colombia’s Uraba region, located in Antioquia province. He is accused of sending dozens of shipments of cocaine to the United States, and Duque said he is also accused of killing police officers, recruiting minors, and sexually abusing children among other crimes.

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The downward spiral of drugs

I was arrested for burglary, and I am now remanded in prison. I have been arrested several times, for taking drugs, robbery, and burglary and have been in and out of prison for years.

For 20 years I had a meth addiction, and I committed most crimes after I took the drug.

I was an estate agent in my 20s. After several years of hard work, I developed a successful career, earning millions annually. But at the peak of my career, I was persuaded by bad friends and went down the wrong path of drugs. Not only did I put my career on the line, but I was also arrested for drug possession.

Continue reading The downward spiral of drugs

Missing life

To all South African people,

I’m a white lady, 63 years of age, and am now sitting in a women’s prison for trafficking drugs into Hong Kong.

I am so very sorry that I have ever committed such a terrible crime. I am now a lonely person. I was always willing to help others, but my goodness and kindness were used against me. I needed to help other people, but they used my kindness to benefit from me, not because they cared. I have lost so much now in my life. 

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Blind trust

It’s been fifteen months since I was remanded in custody at the Lo Wu Correctional Institution. Back in March 2020, I was working as a part-time waitress and managing my online purchasing business at the time. Due to the social events and COVID-19 pandemic, my workload and income drastically reduced. I felt financially insecure. 

One day, I was wandering around Mong Kok and bumped into a friend which we haven’t contacted for ages. We chatted for a while and updated each other with our latest status. He mentioned that he could hook me up to earn some quick cash.

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No future beyond

How often have tears of relief woken us from our nightmares, and our visions relax while leftover anxiety gradually fades into a new day 

That’s God’s gift of choice and freedom to wash away failures, to stand again after we fall.

And then there are those who wake into a nightmare every day, years and years on end: those of us who had forsaken God’s behest and challenged the law – and lost. We wake up in a cage too small for life, yet big enough to swallow our future in a blink of time. We are taken away from people who loved us until the moment they concede to reasons why leaving will be better off without us.

Continue reading No future beyond

Broken heart

I am a 24 years old brazilian writing this letter to express the profound anguish and pain that both myself and my family are going through since my arrest in Hong Kong for trafficking in dangerous drugs.

I write this letter as a warning! Please do not be seduced by the so-called ‘easy money’. There is great need in some cases – as I thought mine was, but however difficult your situation might be, do not be deceived into believing that trafficking is the way out because it is not!

Continue reading Broken heart

Hong Hong Customs seize 52kg of meth hidden in baby car seats shipment from Cambodia

Hong Kong Customs seized about 51.5 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine with an estimated market value of about $32 million in Yuen Long on February 18. This is the first drug trafficking case detected by Customs involving a self-service container yard.

Customs officers on that day inspected a seaborne consignment, declared as carrying baby car seats, that arrived in Hong Kong from Cambodia at a container yard in Yuen Long. Upon examination, the batch of suspected methamphetamine was found concealed inside the false compartments of 32 baby car seats.

Customs’ investigations revealed that drug trafficking syndicates adopted a circuitous transportation route after the drugs had arrived in Hong Kong and used a self-service container yard at Tsing Yi for temporary storage. After a follow-up investigation, Customs officers arrested two men, aged 22 and 33, suspected to be in connection with the case.

Source: HK Customs and Excise Department

Customs seized HK$126M worth of cocaine in shipping container, biggest hard drug bust of year

Hong Kong Customs seized about 80 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $126 million from a transshipment container at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound on February 23.

Following intelligence sharing with overseas law enforcement agencies and risk assessment, Customs officers selected a 40-foot container, declared as containing grapes, from Peru heading for the Mainland via Hong Kong for inspection.

Upon examination, Customs officers found the batch of suspected cocaine inside two nylon bags that were placed by the side of the container doors.

After a follow-up investigation, a 53-year-old man suspected to be in connection with the case was arrested the next day.

Source: HK Customs and Excise Department

 

Hong Kong Customs seizes 15kg of liquid cocaine from Brazil

A male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Amsterdam, the Netherlands yesterday. During Customs clearance, six personal hygiene product bottles containing the batch of suspected liquid cocaine were found inside his check-in suitcase. He was then arrested.

The arrested man, aged 30, has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug.

Source: HK Customs and Excise Department