{"id":47639,"date":"2025-04-09T07:04:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T21:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/?p=47639"},"modified":"2025-04-09T07:04:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T21:04:30","slug":"mv-lunita-drug-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/47639-mv-lunita-drug-bust.html","title":{"rendered":"20 Filipino Seafarers Under Investigation in South Korea Over Record Drug Bust; DMW Vows Legal Support"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has pledged full legal support for 20 Filipino crew members<\/a> of the M\/V Lunita, a Norwegian-flagged cargo vessel seized by South Korean authorities after two tonnes of suspected cocaine were discovered on board.<\/p>\n

The ship, which had been operating in international routes including Mexico, Ecuador, Panama, China, and South Korea, was intercepted at the port of Okgye in Gangwon Province on April 2. According to reports, the illegal drugs were hidden in a concealed compartment in the vessel\u2019s engine room, making it the largest drug haul in South Korean history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In separate media interviews on Tuesday, April 8, DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac confirmed that the 20 Filipino crew members\u2014including the ship\u2019s captain\u2014are currently under investigation. He assured that the DMW is actively coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the families of the seafarers to ensure their rights are protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the next two days, we will have our own lawyers also to form part of the legal team for our crew,\u201d said Cacdac. \u201cThey are entitled to their defense and to be presumed innocent. That is why we are providing the necessary legal counsel in tandem with the one provided by the ship owner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The information that led to the seizure reportedly came from U.S. agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations.<\/p>\n

The ship’s management company, the J.J. Ugland Companies, has also expressed concern<\/a> and has already provided legal representation for the detained crew.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe J.J. Ugland companies take this matter very seriously. We have zero tolerance for illegal actions and follow all security- and control routines required in our operations,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cWe will also review our own procedures in light of this incident to consider further measures that can strengthen the security of our vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n

As investigations continue, the DMW maintains its commitment to uphold the legal rights and welfare of the Filipino crew, reiterating its support amid one of the most serious drug-related incidents involving Filipino seafarers abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has pledged full legal support for 20 Filipino crew members of the M\/V Lunita, a Norwegian-flagged cargo vessel seized by South Korean authorities after two tonnes of suspected cocaine were discovered on board. The ship, which had been operating in international routes including Mexico, Ecuador, Panama, China, and South […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-47639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ofw-family"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47639"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47642,"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47639\/revisions\/47642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pinoy-ofw.com\/pinas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}