*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) MANILA, Philippines - August 15, 2009: A British woman has been 
arrested for allegedly smuggling $10.4 million worth of diamonds into the Philippines, an official said Friday.
Officers from the presidential anti-smuggling group arrested Alpha Kwok, a Chinese-born British national from Hong Kong, at an upscale Manila condominium Tuesday and seized 160 carats of diamonds along with uncut emeralds and other precious stones, said Antonio Villar Jr., head of the agency.
Kwok has been charged with smuggling and detained pending a review of the case by the Justice Department, Villar said.
He said that some of the seized diamonds already were set on rings, earrings and pendants and others were loose stones.
Kwok and her lawyers could not be reached for comment.
Villar said Kwok may have been part of a smuggling syndicate that has been bringing diamonds into the country and selling them to wealthy Filipinos.
He said immigration records showed she had visited the Philippines more than 170 times in over two years, giving a dozen different addresses in metropolitan Manila during her stay.
"She doesn't have any permit to import, and she has no working permit," he said.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo created the anti-smuggling group in 2007 to curb unlawful imports and other tariff violations facilitated by corrupt customs officials.
arrested for allegedly smuggling $10.4 million worth of diamonds into the Philippines, an official said Friday.
Officers from the presidential anti-smuggling group arrested Alpha Kwok, a Chinese-born British national from Hong Kong, at an upscale Manila condominium Tuesday and seized 160 carats of diamonds along with uncut emeralds and other precious stones, said Antonio Villar Jr., head of the agency.
Kwok has been charged with smuggling and detained pending a review of the case by the Justice Department, Villar said.
He said that some of the seized diamonds already were set on rings, earrings and pendants and others were loose stones.
Kwok and her lawyers could not be reached for comment.
Villar said Kwok may have been part of a smuggling syndicate that has been bringing diamonds into the country and selling them to wealthy Filipinos.
He said immigration records showed she had visited the Philippines more than 170 times in over two years, giving a dozen different addresses in metropolitan Manila during her stay.
"She doesn't have any permit to import, and she has no working permit," he said.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo created the anti-smuggling group in 2007 to curb unlawful imports and other tariff violations facilitated by corrupt customs officials.
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