Domestic worker pleads not guilty to drug trafficking after receiving drug package

Eastern Magistrates' Courts

A Filipino domestic helper who allegedly received a package of illegal drugs insisted that she was innocent after the police filed a case against her in court.

Analyn B.D. told Eastern Magistrate Cheng Lim-chi that she was going to challenge the drug trafficking charge against her when her case goes to trial.

“Not guilty, your honor,” De Leon told the judge on February 25.

A Philippine Consulate General (PCG) official said Analyn was arrested after she received a parcel which contained more than 200 grams of cocaine.

“Her case was like that of other Filipino domestic workers who received a drug package,” said the official, who attended the hearing.

The official said Analyn claimed that her friend asked her to receive the package because this friend was not going to be in Hong Kong when the package was scheduled to arrive.

Law enforcement officers had intercepted the package and brought it to the flat of Analyn’s employer. When the helper signed its papers, she was arrested.

In previous cases, Filipino domestic workers got entangled in drug trafficking cases after their boyfriends sent them packages with illegal drugs.

“There are two similar cases also involving our domestic workers,” the PCG official said.

Judge Cheng said the case would be brought to the High Court in Admiralty, which tries drug cases that involve large amounts of illegal drugs, while Analyn would remain in jail. She did not apply for bail.

A senior official of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department earlier urged foreign domestic workers and their employers not to take any package of unknown origin to avoid getting into trouble.