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| The sentencing was held at the Court of First Instance in the High Court |
An uneasy silence followed the pronouncement today of a 24-year jail term for 66-year-old Antonio S. Leybag, Jr., a Filipino tourist who was found guilty after trial of trafficking nearly four kilos of cocaine into Hong Kong more than two years ago.
Everyone who
attended the sentencing at the Court of First Instance was acutely aware of
what Judge Amanda Woodcock had said in passing - that Leybag, given his
advanced age, would probably spend the rest of his life in a Hong Kong jail.
But Judge
Woodcock said the sentence followed the guidelines set down by the Court of
Appeal for cocaine trafficking, and there being not much to be said in terms of
mitigation in the case.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Leybag had
maintained his innocence throughout the five-day trial, saying he had thought
all along that the two bags he was made to carry from Sao Paulo to Dubai and
then Hong Kong, contained only important documents.
Despite this, a
jury made up of six men and one woman voted 6-1 in favor of convicting him of a charge of drug trafficking after deliberating for about half a
day on Tuesday.
Judge Woodcock said
that for cocaine trafficking in which the amount involved was between 1,200 to
4,000 grams, the prescribed sentence is between 23 and 26 years. As Leybag had
brought in nearly 4 kilos of cocaine, the correct sentence, “mathematically
speaking,” should be well over 25 years.
“But I will
proceed on the basis that he was a drug courier,” the judge said, before
setting down a starting point of 24 years’ imprisonment, with no mitigating or aggravating
factor being considered.
Under Hong Kong
laws, the maximum sentence that can be imposed in cases of drug trafficking
is life imprisonment and a fine of $5
million.
Leybag hardly
showed any emotion after the sentencing, although he was immediately approached
by the defense team and the interpreters who offered him words of comfort
before he was led away.
The Ilocano-speaking Leybag was described in court as a mechanical engineer who had previously worked in the Middle East. He was married with seven grown-up children. However, no one from his family was in court during his trial.
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| The 9 parcels of cocaine found in Leybag's luggage |
He was stopped on his way out of Hong Kong International Airport on May 23, 2022, during a random check by customs authorities.
A secondary
inspection of a briefcase and a small suitcase he was carrying yielded nine
packets of cocaine hidden inside glued compartments of the two bags which
altogether weighed 3.95 kilos.
Prosecutor
Lawrence Hui said the market value of the drugs was $3.588 million.
When questioned,
Leybag admitted being paid US$1,000 by a man called Johnson Wilson in Brazil to
hand carry the bags to Dubai and then Hong Kong, but thought they contained only important documents.
He said Mr
Wilson had invited him to go to Brazil to inspect houses which, upon
questioning by the prosecution, were said to be owned by “Sotheby’s” and cost
tens of millions. This was because of his work experience and his having a
construction business in the Philippines, said Leybag.
He said it was
the third time he had gone to Brazil, but he was not asked to carry documents
during his two previous trips.
Hui, however,
revealed text exchanges between Leybag and the man he called Mr Wilson, in which
the defendant was given detailed instruction on what he must do during his
trip. They included a reminder that Leybag must not show the “documents” to
immigration officers in Dubai and Hong Kong.
Hui said the term “document” referred to the drugs in the bags which Leybag must have known about. But Leybag said it referred to his passport, air tickets and his PCR test result, as it was then at the height of the pandemic.
Leybag
insisted he did not know about the drugs, and he was not in the habit of lying
as he is a Christian.
Leybag arrived
in Hong Kong on board a Qatar Airways flight from Doha at about 5pm on May 23,
2022. He had flown out originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and passed Doha on
the way to Hong Kong.
One of the
customs officers who arrested him said Leybag
had used the “green lane”” which is reserved for travelers who do not
have dutiable goods to declare to customs.
After his bags
were put through an X-ray machine, the officer saw some items inside that were
not readily apparent from the outside. The suitcase was also unusually heavy.
On inspection, the officer noted that the inside flaps of the suitcase had been glued shut. A hole was then punched into the top of the suitcase, and white powder trickled out from it. The nine packets of cocaine were eventually found hidden in the two bags.
