FDH asks forgiveness from parents for $2.1M drug smuggling try

The sausage-like packet Narido was told to swallow

“I’m very sorry, tatay and nanay.”

A 33-year-old domestic worker and from Ap Lei Chau asked for forgiveness from her parents after she was caught trying to bring in $2.1 million worth of cocaine in Hong Kong.

Eden Monica Narido asked for forgiveness through a Facebook page set up by her friends and family that was also meant to spread awareness among Filipinos about the dangers of the illegal drug trade.

“I am very sorry, tatay and nanay (father and mother). I am sorry for the shame and embarrassment my being here has caused to our family name. I am sorry for the extra burden on you and nanay over the years,” Narido said.

“I cannot begin to imagine the pain and suffering you’re being forced to deal with. My only desire is that I could be out there to look after you tatay and nanay, as you have done so many time for me and the rest of my siblings,” she added.

High Court Justice Joseph Yau on August 26 sentenced Narido to 15 years and eight months in prison for bringing into Hong Kong $2.1 million worth of cocaine from Manila in December 2014.

“I know we had our differences in the past. Oftentimes, our tempers got the best of us. I guess when you’re young, you think the whole world is at your fingertips and advice is the last I looked for,” Narido said.

“Was it only yesterday I was a kid growing up?…Now, I am a mother. The only difference is, I am trying to be a mother from (behind these) cold bars. It’s not easy, nanay. (I) am missing all the best years of (my son’s) life. My letters can hardly fill the void in his life,” she said.

“I miss (my son) and I miss you tatay and nanay (and) the rest of the family. No matter how rough things got for me these past couple of years, you and nanay never turned your back on me. That means so very much to me. I guess what I am trying to say is, I love you, tatay and nanay. I hope you knew that,” she added.

Justice Yau also ordered the confiscation of US$3,700 (HK$28,700) found in Narido possession when she was arrested.

Her lawyer had insisted that it was her own money but the government prosecutor said that it might be proceeds from her involvement in the illegal drug trade.

The prosecutor said Narido had traveled to Brazil before her arrest at the airport. The Filipina claimed that her “rich Arab boyfriend” brought her to Latin America for “sightseeing, bars, shopping,” and to see the churches there.

The prosecutor also said that there were records showing that Narido traveled outside Hong Kong, particularly to the Philippines, on her day off and then came back here a few hours later.

Narido said she had to meet her boyfriend outside Hong Kong because he was denied entry here. She did not identify her boyfriend.

Narido was arrested at the Chek Lap Kok International Airport at around 10:15 a.m. on December 4, 2014 after her flight from Manila landed.

She told Customs officers that she had nothing to declare but, when they checked a white handbag she was carrying, they found three “abnormally heavy” platform shoes.

“Upon baggage examination, Customs officers found three pairs of abnormally heavy shoes in the baggage she was carrying. With X-ray check, false compartments in the shoe soles were found,” said a government statement issued after her arrest.

About 2.1 kilos of suspected cocaine was concealed in the false compartments. Customs officers also later found on her another 16 grams of suspected cocaine in a “sausage-like” packet that she was told to swallow but she did not.

Government laboratory test eventually showed that Narido was carrying a total of 1.882 kilos of cocaine.

The domestic worker was allegedly enticed to become a drug mule by another Filipina named Jayme and an African male Bruno, whom she met in a bar in Wan Chai.

The two allegedly told Narido that many Filipinas like her had agreed to bring into Hong Kong “shoes” for a fee of US$500 (HK$3,880).

When Narido went home for a vacation, she contacted Jaime, who was also in the Philippines, and agreed to bring “the shoes” to Hong Kong.

She met Jaime and her driver in Manila and they gave her the shoes and the plane tickets to fly to Hong Kong on December 4 and return to Manila that same day.

Narido claimed that she only “suspected” that she was carrying illegal drugs and that she did not know what type it was because she was not a drug user.

Narido is a single mother with a six-year-old son waiting for her back in the Philippines.