The SUN HK : OS for 9.5 years charged with drug trafficking

The Filipina OS is charged with having ice and pipes for inhaling it in her possession

Two Filipinos were each charged with drug-related offences when they appeared before Magistrate Minnie Wat at Eastern Court earlier today, Nov. 3.

Thelma Antonio Lobo, 57, a former domestic worker, faced one count each of drug trafficking, drug possession, possession of two pieces of apparatus fit for drug inhalation and violating her visa condition by overstaying.

All of the charges were filed after her arrest on May 31, 2023 in a room on the third floor of no 12 Tit Hong Lane in Central.

Pindutin para sa detalye

In the second case, 25-year-old K. Aguila, a cashier at a fastfood chain, pleaded guilty to possessing .11 grams of methampethamine hydrochloride or “ice” (shabu in the Philippines) and will be sentenced after a probation report is submitted to court.

According to the charge sheet in Lobo's case, she had already overstayed her visa for nine and a half years when she was arrested. She arrived in Hong Kong as a domestic helper and should have left on Nov. 26, 2013 but stayed on until her arrest in May.

The first charge of drug trafficking stemmed from her allegedly having 5.48 grams of ice in her possession when she was arrested.

PINDUTIN DITO!

In addition, she was charged with drug possession because of a separate amount of 0.39 grams of ice that was also allegedly found on her.

The last charge was in relation to two segments of a plastic tube intended for drug inhalation that was also found in her possession.

Because of the seriousness of the charges, Lobo’s case was elevated to the District Court, where she is set to make her plea on Nov. 23. She was sent back to jail until then.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

In the case of Aguila, the drugs were found in a bag he was carrying at Exit A4 of the Wanchai MTR station during a routine check on Sept. 5, 2023.

He immediately pleaded guilty when he appeared in court, and his counsel provided by the Duty Lawyer service asked for a lenient sentence on his behalf.

The lawyer said Aguila came to work as a dependant in 2015 and was working in a fast-food chain where he earned $12,000 a month. He sent nearly half of this, or $5,000, to his parents who both in their 60s and are living in the Philippines.

BASAHIN ANG DETALYE

Aguila had a clear record and said he was willing to take a drug test to show that he was not dependent on any prohibited substance. He said he was enticed to try the drug by an acquaintance he could no longer contact.

His office manager showed up in court, along with some friends, to show support for Aguila.

Magistrate Wat said she was taking note of the defendant’s clear record, his assurance that he was not a drug dependent, and the small quantity of the drugs involved in determining the appropriate sentence.

She set the sentencing after six weeks, or on Dec. 15, pending the submission of a probation report and the result of a urine test to be conducted on Aguilar.

Until then the magistrate said “all sentencing options are open.”