Police officer's wife freed after 10-month jail ordeal on drug charges in Australia
Gang smuggling drugs to Australia set up police officer's wife trying to pay off gambling debts
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 19 April, 2015, 2:42am
UPDATED : Sunday, 19 April, 2015, 2:42am
Bryan Harris [email protected]
Chan Miu-fong signed for delivery of an illegal drugs shipment. Photo: EPA
The wife of a Hong Kong police superintendent has been cleared after spending 10 months in a Sydney prison awaiting trial for her involvement in an illegal drugs shipment.
Chan Miu-fong, 53, was released when Australian prosecutors dropped the charges, admitting that she and her co-accused were no more than patsies, set up to take the blame for the crystal meth-smuggling operation.
She could have faced up to 25 years in prison had she been convicted of trafficking the drug, also known as Ice.
Chan said she was tricked into the job as a way to make "quick money" to pay heavy mahjong debts she racked up in Hong Kong, according to a report in Australia's Daily Telegraph.
"Given the high bar of proving the intention and knowledge of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, there were no reasonable prospects of conviction," a spokesman for the country's federal prosecution service said.
The wife of a Hong Kong police superintendent, Chan was arrested after signing for delivery of the shipment in May last year. Unbeknown to her, the shipment was under the control of the Australian Federal Police.
An earlier shipment of about 30kg - worth about HK$60 million - was seized when customs authorities at Sydney's port examined a suspicious container sent from China and filled with garden hoses.
The discovery led to the arrest of 64-year-old Yau Ah-fung, who was freed alongside Chan following the recent decision not to prosecute.
Yet despite the fact Yau was no longer taking phone calls, the syndicate behind the deal - reportedly based in Hong Kong - went ahead with the delivery. And Chan signed for the shipment at a home in Sydney's southern suburb of Riverwood.
The pair's alleged minder - 29-year-old James Chen Qiang - is due to stand trial later this year.
Southern China is frequently pinpointed by Australian and New Zealand authorities as a key source of the methamphetamine flooding into both countries, and its precursor chemicals.
On Friday, police in New Zealand announced the seizure of 123kg of meth and the arrests of seven Hong Kong and mainland Chinese citizens.
