Hong Kong airline officials jailed for people smuggling

Feb 24, 2011, 3:42 GMT

Hong Kong - Two former Cathay Pacific workers at Hong Kong airport have been jailed for taking bribes from Chinese illegal migrants, a news report said Wednesday.

Gordon Ng Ka-wah, 30, a former airline customer services officer, was for jailed 20 months for helping migrants without proper documentation get boarding passes for flights to the US and Europe.

His colleague Tan Wei-menn, 46, was jailed for 16 months at Tuesday's court hearing after being convicted of the same offence, the Hong Kong Standard reported.

Ng and Tan were part of a human trafficking syndicate that used Hong Kong's airport as a hub from December 2008 to August 2009.

They received bribes of around 2,000 US dollars each and used data from the Cathay Pacific computer system to ensure the travellers could board, Hong Kong's District Court was told.

Two other men involved in the syndicate who worked as escorts for the migrants at the airport were jailed for 14 months.

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