BFF-07 DHL heir on run after failing drugs test in Palau

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BFF-07

PALAU-US-CRIME-DRUGS

DHL heir on run after failing drugs test in Palau

KOROR, Palau, July 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – DHL heir Larry Hillbroom Jr. was
on the run in the Pacific island nation of Palau Friday after failing
mandatory drug testing imposed as part of a trafficking sentence.

Multi-millionaire Hillbroom was placed on 10 years’ probation and fined
$50,000 last month after admitting trafficking methamphetamine.

The sentencing judge said he would be imprisoned for five years if he
returned a positive drug sample.

Attorney General Ernestine Rengiil said in the wake of his failed drug
test, police have now issued an arrest warrant for Hillbroom.

“A positive drug test shall result in immediate incarceration of
defendant,” she added, citing Hillbroom’s sentencing order.

Hillbroom had faced a up to 50 years in jail before pleading guilty at the
last minute to trafficking charges, under a deal that allowed him to escape
incarceration.

The plea bargain angered President Tommy Remengesau, who earlier this month
said that Palau had a zero tolerance policy on drugs that should apply to all
people, regardless of their wealth.

Hillbroom, who holds US and Palau passports, is a son of Larry Hillblom,
co-founder of the shipping company, although their surnames are spelled
differently.

He is one of four illegitimate children, and successfully sued for a share
of the billionaire businessman’s fortune after Hillblom died in a plane crash
in 1995.

Hillbroom’s inheritance has been estimated at $100 million, although he
said last year that financial mismanagement meant it was now much less.

Hillbroom, normally based in the United States, was visiting Palau in 2016
when he was arrested for allegedly arranging for two women to smuggle
methamphetamine from the Philippine capital Manila to Palau.

He fled from custody after his arrest but was caught a night later when
police plucked him from the sea as he tried to swim away.

BSS/AFP/MRI/0835 hrs