COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of keeping a divan and one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 35 and section 4 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. He is committed to this court for sentence.
In the morning of 19 October 2021, police officers armed with a search warrant broke into a flat in Shanghai Street, Mong Kok. Inside the flat, 28 persons were found. Amongst the 28 persons, the defendant was arrested.
Under caution, the defendant admitted that the flat in question was used as a divan for people to consume dangerous drugs.
Police officers found 38.79 grammes of heroin, 12.76 of ‘Ice’ and 13 tablets containing 0.15 grammes of midazolam and various paraphernalia and apparatus. In return, the defendant would receive HK$1,000 each day.
The street value of all those drugs was estimated to be over HK$70,000.
The defendant is 45, educated up to Form 1 level. Prior to his arrest, he was unemployed. He has 19 conviction records, including 15 counts of the dangerous drugs related offences.
Counsel from both sides agreed that the notional starting point under various tests for trafficking in the dangerous drugs in question would be one of 96 months’ imprisonment. That is excluding the 13 midazolam tablets.
The defendant in this case was not acting simply as a courier. He was put in charge of keeping and selling dangerous drugs to drug addicts. In addition, he also has multiple dangerous drugs related convictions. As such, the starting point would be increased from 96 months to 108 months’ imprisonment. That is an additional 12 months’ imprisonment. After a one-third discount, the sentence is reduced to one of 72 months’ imprisonment.
As to the charge of keeping a divan, 24 months would be adopted as the notional starting point. This is after taking into account the number of drug addicts present at the premises and the security measures installed in the premises, the equipment, and the number of drugs, different types of drugs found in the premises. After a one-third discount, the sentence is reduced to one of 16 months’ imprisonment.
The two sentences would run consecutively to each other. For the two offences the defendant stands convicted, he is therefore sentenced to 88 months’ imprisonment.