The Filipina and Indian suspects were arrested in a cubicle in this building in Mong Kok |
A Filipina domestic worker is on $10,000 bail while facing drug trafficking charges along with one of the suspects in the $38-million watch robbery in Tsim Sha Tsui in December last year.
Melene I. Mogol, 38, appeared in Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court on Friday, May 17, to face one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, the kind and quantity of which were not disclosed in the charge sheet.
However, earlier reports said more than half a kilo of methamphetamine or "ice" worth $220,000 was involved.
PINDUTIN DITO |
Mogol was
charged along with Sumeet Dadwal, a
30-year-old Indian national, who was arrested with her in a subdivided unit in
Tang Fat House, Mong Kok, on Jan. 7 this year, in which the drug trafficking
offence was alleged to have been committed.
Dadwal faces a
separate charge of robbery, along with three unknown males, for the 37-second
raid made at the Alpha Watch and Jewellery shop on Granville Road in Tsim Sha
Tsui on Dec. 23, 2023, in which 24 watches valued at $38,157,530 were taken.
While Mogol was
allowed to post bail, Dadwal was remanded in jail custody. Both defendants are
due to appear in court again on July 12.
Still photo from a video of the watch heist |
According to
news reports, the $38-million watch heist started with one of the robbers
ringing the shop’s doorbell, pretending to be a customer. As soon as he was
allowed in, four masked men wearing black hoodies rushed in and began smashing the
shop’s counters with sledgehammers, before sweeping the watches away.
Two of the
robbers were shown on video threatening staff while the robbery was going on.
The watches
stolen reportedly included such expensive Swiss brands as Patek Philippe,
Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille, with a single watch being sold for $4.6
million.
TAWAG NA! |
The robbers fled
in a getaway car, but in less than 24 hours police arrested three suspects, one
in Tsuen Wan, another in Sheung Shui and the third in Yuen Long.
Two other
suspects were arrested subsequently.
On Jan. 7,
police reported the arrest of two more suspects, one non-ethnic Chinese male
resident and a foreign woman, who turned out to be Dadwal and Mogol.
At the time, the
police said the man was arrested for robbery and trafficking in a dangerous
drug while the woman was arrested for assisting an offender and drug
trafficking.
About 529 grams of suspected methamphetamine, valued at around $220,000 were reportedly seized during the raid.
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