By Daisy CL Mandap
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| The 'ecstacy' tablets that Quijano agreed to accept were found hidden in layers of carton wrappings |
A Filipina who was tempted to accept a consignment of about 1.9 kilos of ecstacy for a “friend” more than a year ago in exchange for $5,000, pleaded guilty earlier today at Eastern Court to a charge of drug trafficking.
Maricris Q. Quejada, 38, a torture claimant on recognizance, readily said “yes” when she was asked if she understood the charge against her, and if she admitted the facts of the case that were read out to her.
Convinced that the defendant had admitted the charge against her voluntarily, Magistrate Jason Wan ordered the case transferred to the Court of First Instance for sentencing. He also ordered Quejada remanded in jail until she is sentenced.
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Drug trafficking is a very serious offence in
Quejada said in a statement she made to the police that she was contacted by a man called Emeca on WhatsApp earlier in May, saying he got her contact information from a friend.
Emeca later introduced his girlfriend, Megan, to her, and they all met up at the K11 shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, where the pair offered to pay the Filipina $5,000 if she would agree to accept a parcel for a friend called Jack.
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Although she found the offer “suspicious” because the offered pay was too high for what she thought was an easy task, Quejada was tempted to agree to the deal.
What followed were a series of text messages among the three regarding the date and time of delivery, as well as the address.
Quejada was told she should pick up the parcel on May 13th
on behalf of “James” or Jack, whose listed address was the 4th floor
at
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Meanwhile, the air parcel sent by someone called Susana
Otangco from
Customs officers examined the packet, and found 1,862 grams of tablets containing 531.6 grams of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, a hallucinogenic substance found in the drug commonly known as “ecstacy”, hidden inside.
The contraband, said to be worth around $310,000, was found concealed between layers of the carton packaging.
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After failing to deliver the drugs to the originally listed
address on May 10, customs officers found a re-delivery request made online by
the recipient, who asked that the parcel be delivered on May 13 instead to the
On the indicated date and time, a customs officer posing as a postman went to the address on May 13, and met Quejada, who openly declared, “That’s my parcel!”. She then contacted Megan who affirmed to the postman that Quejada was authorized to accept delivery.
After Quejada signed the airbill, customs officers arrested her. They then made the defendant contact Emeca and Megan, but they were no longer picking up her call. Later, their phones were disconnected.
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The supposed recipient, Jack, initially replied to a text message sent by Quejada with a photo of a shop in a hotel where she was meant to take the parcel. However, he was apparently tipped off as well so he also dropped all communications with Quejada.
After her arrest, the Filipina told investigators she did not personally know any of the three people involved in the heist, or where they could be contacted.
Customs has always reminded the public to stay alert, and not take part in drug trafficking activities in exchange for money. They must not agree to accept, carry or transact in illicit goods on behalf of others; or to allow others to use their name or home address for receiving mailed packages. Anyone may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
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