Jail terms stay for Pinoys in smuggled cigars cases
West Kowloon Law Courts Building
TWO Filipinos who were charged with illegally bringing to Hong Kong thousands of cigarettes from the Philippines sought a review of the sentences imposed on them by judges.
M.E. Lumba and A.N.L. Sempio appeared separately in Court 1 and Court 9, respectively, of the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Apr. 19.
Lumba, 36, was sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to bringing 25,000 sticks of cigarettes of various brands to Hong Kong on Apr. 3.
At about 10:15 a.m., arriving from a Philippine Airlines flight, Lumba passed through the “nothing to declare” channel of Customs Arrival Hall A.
Lumba’s bags were inspected in his presence at the Baggage Examination Counter number 6.
His black suitcase, black rucksack, and three white plastic bags yielded 25,000 sticks of Marlboro, and Philip Morris cigarettes with a total value of $68,000 and estimated duties worth $47,650. They also found wrapping materials in his bags.
The prosecution said the defendant was arrested at about 10:45 a.m. because he failed to make any declaration to the Customs officers about the goods.
Under investigation, Lumba said he would deliver the cigarettes to a female friend named “Alma” in IFC, Central.
At around 4;40 p.m., Customs officers and the defendant went to the IFC shopping mall to meet with “Alma”, but she was nowhere to be found.
On the same day, the defendant was taken back to the Customs office where in a recorded interview, he admitted the cigarettes belonged to him, and he did not pay the duty for the cigarettes to Hong Kong government.
Meanwhile, 33-year-old Sempio was also arrested at about 10:50 a.m. after arriving in Hong Kong, and Customs officers, upon examining his four suitcases and one backpack, found 24,000 sticks of cigarettes with a total estimated value of $65,400, and duty potential worth P45, 744.
The defendant then told investigators he bought the cigarettes from a grocery store in the Philippines and he would be giving them to his friends in Hong Kong and they would meet at the IFC shopping mall in Central.
At about 5;20 p.m., Customs agents went to deliver the cigarettes to the IFC shopping mall, but no friends of Sempio turned up.
When the defendant was escorted back to the Customs office, and during a video-recorded interview, Sempio admitted buying the cigarettes for P30,000, and that he had had no other way to contact his friends other than Facebook messenger.
He also said he came to Hong Kong to buy goods for his chocolate business in the Philippines, and he was taking the last flight back to the Philippines on the same day.
During the hearing, the Duty Lawyer Service advised the two defendants they would not be representing them, prompting the two to tell the court they were withdrawing their application.
Upon inquiry from the judges, the defendants said they confirm the voluntary withdrawal of their application for review hearing.