Pinay held in India over alleged drug smuggling

A former Filipina domestic helper was arrested in India for allegedly smuggling cocaine for a Brazilian drug cartel, according to New Indian Express reports.

The reports identified the suspect as Jonna de Torres. She was nabbed by the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) for allegedly smuggling 4.7 kilograms of cocaine from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to the Nedumbassery airport at Kochi in early January.

Torres got the attention of authorities after she was seen waiting for someone "in a suspicious manner" before she passed through immigration, according to one report.

Another report said NCB found out later that Torres worked in Hong Kong as a domestic helper. She visited Brazil for five days in 2015 and made her way to India for the first time on the day she was arrested.

She admitted to smuggling drugs several times in the past, earning $2,000 to $4,000 per trip, before a Brazillian drug cartel hired her for $4,000 to smuggle cocaine to India.

While Torres refused to name anyone, she said a Brazilian visited her in Sao Paulo and handed her a hand bag and a trolley bag containing the cocaine.

Her flight and accommodations in a hotel at Ernakulam North was arranged by someone in Sao Paulo. Torres was instructed to wait at the hotel room with no further instructions.

Several internet calls and calls from Brazil mobile phone numbers were found in the Filipina's phone. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News