A few months back, there was a Filipino arrested by airport officials for carrying an illegal item in his luggage as he was transiting here in Singapore to another country.
This time, another similar case has resurfaced on the news, and a few others involving scams which deals with syndicates conducting their operations by duping expats to open bank accounts or have them receive packages which may contain illegal substances for delivery.
Banned Weapons Found in 3 Filipino Transit Travelers’ Luggage
Three Filipino transiting through Hong Kong have been convicted and fined by officials from Hong Kong courts this month for possession of stun guns and other prohibited weapons inside their luggage according to an officer from the Philippine Consulate, as shared in a report by the Sun HK.
The officer from the Consulate’s Assistance to Nationals (ATN) section shared that the three travellers arrived in the country on various dates this month. The identities of the defendants were not revealed by the officer.
The officer revealed that all three convicted were fined between HKD 1,000 and HKD 1,700 each for their offences.
According to the ATN official, the latest two cases which only happened a week ago involved a seaman from Xiamen as well as a transit passenger from San Francisco, have been sentenced in court a week ago.
The passenger from San Francisco was found to have a pepper spray, a stun gun and an extendable baton inside his check-in luggage. For this, a judge convicted and fined him HKD 1,700.
The second passenger was also convicted and fined HKD 1,000 for carrying a stun gun inside his backpack, according to the ATN officer.
To the seaman’s defence, he said that he had only found the weapon on the street and picked it up.
However, this wasn’t enough reason to be let off from the charges filed against him.