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DFA helps 4 Pinoy seafarers nabbed in Australia for cocaine trade

By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz

April 4, 2022, 8:13 pm

MANILA – The four Filipino seafarers arrested in Adelaide, South Australia in March will be provided with necessary assistance by the Philippine Consulate General in Melbourne and the Philippine Embassy in Canberra, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) assured.

In a statement on Monday, the DFA said representatives of the Philippine Consulate General in Melbourne have talked to the four who were arrested for alleged “importation of a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs”.

They face life imprisonment if found guilty.

“The DFA stands ready to provide necessary assistance, including legal assistance, if still necessary, to protect the Filipino seafarers’ rights and ensure that they are given due process and a fair trial,” the DFA said.

The Filipinos are “in good health and are being treated well” by Australian authorities, the statement added.

They also requested that their families be updated.

It said the seafarers were individually provided with public defenders when they appeared before the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on April 1.

“The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Canberra has also been in touch with the shipping/manning agency of the cargo vessel,” the DFA said, adding that the Philippine government “expects all Filipinos to uphold the rule of law wherever they may be”.

Earlier, Australian Federal Police (AFP), with assistance from the Australian Border Force (ABF), South Australia Police, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and the Department of Home Affair, seized 416 kilos of cocaine with a street value of around AUD166 million (about PHP6.4 billion) from the four, touted as the largest quantity ever detected in South Australia.

AFP assistant commissioner Peter Harvey said the drug bust was the result of a multi-agency investigation into organized international crime, according to the news website In-Cyprus.

“The investigation was launched in mid-March after an assessment of intelligence that suggested a commercial bulk-carrier ship, the Kypros Bravery, was to be used to traffic illicit drugs into Australia,” he said.

Harvey said the ABF “conducted a methodical, arduous, and endless search of the ocean area and located the shipment on the 18th of March”.

The Cyprus-flagged ship was subsequently cleared to leave the port of Adelaide. (PNA)

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