What will happen to my children?

I am a 24-year-old Brazilian currently in a Hong Kong prison. I have five children and grew up with separated parents, being raised by my grandparents in the interior of São Paulo. I moved to Fortaleza in 2020.

I lived with my children and worked tirelessly to support them without any help. Despite my efforts, I never received any assistance from my family. After the separation, my parents abandoned me and showed no interest in my well-being or that of my children.

A few months ago, I found myself in a moment of desperation. I was unemployed, with overdue bills and rent, and no money for food. To make matters worse, my five-month-old son had a bout of bronchitis. I spent my nights and days crying and feeling lost. It was at this moment that an acquaintance offered me a job and said that the payment would be of great help to me.

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Locked up, lockdown, locked up again

I am 47 years old and originally from Nigeria. I first came to Hong Kong in 2010 and was subsequently arrested for drug trafficking at the Hong Kong International Airport. I pleaded guilty to the charge and served my sentence until my release from prison in 2018. Since then, I have stayed in the city and lived as an asylum seeker.

In 2019, when the Covid pandemic struck, family and friends who were financially supporting me lost their jobs. Moreover, I used to earn a small amount of money helping people that came from Africa to buy second-hand electronics goods, but they stopped coming to Hong Kong because of the pandemic. I started having difficulty meeting my basic daily needs, and then in 2020, my girlfriend informed me that she was pregnant. This made the situation worse, and as a result, I began looking for help.

In desperation to earn money, I turned to some old clients whom I used to help since they couldn’t come to Hong Kong due to the pandemic. However, some of these clients reduced their orders because of lockdowns in their countries, and they couldn’t sell the previous goods they had ordered through me because their shops were closed.

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Customs seize 13kg of heroin at airport

Customs officers at the airport have seized around 13 kilogrammes of heroin hidden inside nylon mats brought into the city from Thailand.

The haul, estimated to be worth around HK$10 million, was discovered in a passenger’s suitcase on Saturday, officials said.

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Tricked into trafficking? Hong Kong drug mules face uphill fight to prove innocence, with most spending years in prison before release

Aminah* and her aunt Sunarti* were shocked when they arrived at Hong Kong International Airport and customs officials used an electric drill to take their suitcases apart.

The Indonesian women were arrested for drug trafficking after the officers found 5kg of crystal meth, commonly known as ice, hidden in the bags.

A few weeks before their arrest in June 2019, Aminah, 25, a housewife living in Lombok, had been contacted by her Indonesian friend Kartini* who was working as a domestic worker in Hong Kong.

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Drugs fight hits high with reopening of the border

Customs officers have seized 2.3 tonnes of drugs with an estimated market value of HK$970 million at the airport in the first half, up more than 80 percent compared to the same period last year.

The 2.3 tonnes of suspected dangerous drugs, seized in 604 incidents, made up 88 percent of the 2.6 tonnes, the highest proportion in the past 10 years, that were hauled in all ports of entry.

By quantity, the top seizures were of cannabis (572 kilograms), ketamine (504 kg), methamphetamine (436 kg) and cocaine (241 kg).

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Man arrested for smuggling 6.3 kg of cocaine in cookie tins

Customs arrested a man after discovering 6.3 kilograms of suspected cocaine worth about HK$6.9 million in four cookie tins.

Officers were doing a routine check on a foreign man arriving from Macau on Saturday before finding the tins suspicious and opted to open it to check the contents.

They then found 6.3 kg of suspected cocaine with a market value of HK$6.9 million.

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Drug trafficking overwhelms customs controls at Bole airport

The Ethiopian Customs Commission said it is struggling with the growing sophistication and capacity of drug smugglers who use Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

Ethiopia is becoming among one of the emerging transit hubs for smugglers. Of around 156 drug seizures of outgoing drugs in Brazil, 64 were planned to arrive in or transit through Ethiopia, according to a report published by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in March this year.

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The plight of a victim of a Nigerian drug ring

I am a domestic worker and I have been on remand for two years as a result of trusting a man from Nigeria who took advantage of me. These people only want to gain your trust so they can use you for their illegal activities. Unfortunately, I am not the only victim. Many Filipina and Indonesian women are also in prison because of this Nigerian ring.

I want to bring this to the attention of the Hong Kong authorities in order to warn them about this Nigerian ring. We all admit that we were foolish to trust them, but I believe that God will help us because only He knows the truth.

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UN says cocaine demand, production booming

Cocaine demand and supply are booming worldwide and methamphetamine trafficking is expanding beyond established markets, including in Afghanistan where the drug is now being produced, a United Nations report said on Sunday.

Coca bush cultivation and total cocaine production were at record highs in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, and the global number of cocaine users, estimated at 22 million that same year, is growing steadily, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in its annual World Drug Report.

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Two arrested in $11 million drug bust

Police arrested two men for making and trafficking drugs in Mong Kok and Yuen Long, seizing suspected ketamine worth over HK$11 million.

In an anti-triad operation, officers intercepted a man at Foo Kwai Street in Mong Kok and found suspected ketamine on him. They further seized suspected ketamine weighing about 4.9 kilograms in his rental apartment.

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‘Double-identity’ deliveryman arrested as Tsuen Wan police seize HK$3.6m of drugs

A 39-year-old man was arrested as Tsuen Wan police raided two warehouses in the area on Wednesday night and seized HK$3.6 million worth of drugs, including crack cocaine and “ice” drug.

After in-depth investigations, Tsuen Wan police targeted two warehouses at an industrial building on Wang Lung Street that were used as storage by drug distributors.

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Double the mistake, double the shame

I am a 40-year-old man who works as a porter and earns HK$25,000 per month. On July 14, 2022, the day I received my salary, I was arrested by a plainclothes officer. Prior to my arrest, I had used HK$5,000 to purchase some ketamine and cocaine, roughly 3.95g and 1.9g respectively.

Although I had only intended to bring these drugs home for me and my friends, my lawyer informed me that this still counts as a trafficking offense. As a result, I am facing a minimum sentence of three years. The sentence for trafficking 0-10 grams of ketamine is two to four years, which means that based on the amount I had, my sentence will be between two years and six months to two years and eight months. The sentence for trafficking 0-10 grams of cocaine is two to five years. Since I had both types of drugs on me, an additional six months will be added to my sentence.

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Finding forgiveness at the cross

I grew up in a Christian family. Although I went to church with my parents, I felt that religious faith was out of reach and untouchable. My mother was a college principal, and my father was a professor. I used to be an obedient child, but as I grew up, I faced many challenges and temptations.

While studying for a Nursing degree at the University of Hong Kong, I developed a heavy dependence on smoking, drinking, and relationships with men. One summer, while partying at a nightclub, I tried drugs and soon became addicted.

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The package that stole my freedom

I have been in remand for over nine months on drug trafficking charges. When I was first arrested, I was very confused. I didn’t know anything about drugs, and I had no idea about the trial process or sentencing details. Learning that I might be sentenced to twenty years imprisonment for the 1.8 kg of drugs found in the package I picked up left me feeling hopeless. Continue reading The package that stole my freedom

Ten years of recklessness

I am a 32-year-old mother of three. I have been on remand for 24 months for trafficking dangerous drugs (methamphetamine), awaiting sentencing.

Family separation

My parents divorced when I was about seven years old. I lived with my grandparents, but I kept a very good relationship with my mom. Although I seldom saw her, I loved her very much. My mother remarried when I was in grade three. She moved to England with her new husband for a while. I pretended like nothing happened when I said goodbye to her at the airport. However, I secretly cried after she left. I remember she sent me a letter with £10 in it for my birthday that year. I cried each time I read through the letter. Six months later, my mom divorced again, returned to Hong Kong and I moved back to live with her. During primary school, I was a top-performing student, consistently ranking in the top ten of my class. In addition to my academic pursuits, I participated in many after-school activities and learned to play musical instruments. Piano lessons were paid for by my grandparents.

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