COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty on 30 May this year to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, before a magistrate. It is alleged that on 9 July 2022, on Fuk Wa Street in Sham Shui Po, he unlawfully trafficked in 542 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as ‘Ice’.
According to the Summary of Facts to which he agreed for his plea, in the early hours of 9 July 2022 at about 3.40 am, uniformed police officers patrolling in Sham Shui Po area saw him holding a McDonald’s takeaway and quickly walked to a private car which was parked outside the McDonald’s on Fuk Wa Street in Sham Shui Po. He acted furtively when he saw the police officers, therefore, he was intercepted.
Upon search, the police found in his sling bag cash of $136,000. They were mostly made up of $500 banknotes, and the rest were made up of $1,000 and $100 banknotes. In addition, cash of $1,342.40 and two mobile phones were also found on his person.
Upon search of the private car, the police found a backpack on the front passenger seat. The defendant admitted that the backpack belonged to him, and he said it contained his work clothes. And then the police found inside the backpack a green zipped bag, and he reacted nervously, claiming that it contained charms and asked the police not to search it. The police officer expressed disbelief, and then he said the bag actually contained tea leaves. At the same time, he also pressed the police officer’s hand, trying to stop him from opening the bag. Eventually the zipped bag was opened and found to contain one large bag and 15 small bags of white crystals. He immediately tried to run away from the scene but was quickly intercepted by the police.
Inside his own backpack the police also found two black zipped bags containing some packaging paraphernalia including electronic scale, plastic straws, glass nozzles and also some empty resealable bags. Upon his arrest and admission under caution, the defendant stated that someone gave him $3,000 to transport the ‘Ice’ drugs.
Subsequent examination by the government chemist confirmed that all the drug seized from the bag were 547 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 542 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, with an estimated street value of about HK$332,029.
In a subsequent video-recorded interview, the defendant stated that he was the registered owner of the private car. Also he was a drug addict and he took the dangerous drug of ‘Ice’.
The defendant now admits that he possessed the dangerous drug seized for the purpose of unlawful trafficking.
The defendant was 45 years of age at the time of the offence, and he is now 47 years of age. He has some criminal records, and most of them are drug-related including a total of four convictions for the offence of possession of dangerous drug and one convictions for the offence of trafficking in dangerous drug. For the offence of trafficking in dangerous drug on 8 April 2014, he was sentenced to 8 years and 8 months’ imprisonment. He was not discharged from prison for that offence until 14 January 2020, which was about 2½ years before he committed the present offence.
I was informed by counsel, upon my enquiry, that on the last occasion the drug that he trafficked was also ‘Ice’. So, it appears to me that the previous sentence did not actually deter him from re-offending and engaging in the same kind of trafficking activities.
In mitigation, counsel informed me that the defendant is now 47 years of age, and he has received Form 3 education. He is married with a daughter. Before his arrest he was a driver earning about $9,000 dollars a month, and his wife works as a clerk with a monthly salary of about $13,000. Counsel said he used to contribute several thousand dollars to his parents, and he committed the present offence because he wanted to earn more money so that he could make more contribution to his family.
Pausing here, I would say that compared with the background of many other defendants involved in this kind of offence, apparently his financial position was much better than many others.
Counsel urged this court to take into account his role as a courier only, that the previous record of trafficking occurred some years ago, and the last record of possession of dangerous drug also occurred about 11 years ago. Counsel said he is now very remorseful and urged the court to give him a full one-third discount.
In sentencing the defendant, I bear in mind the approach stated by the Court of Appeal in the case of Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HIKLRD 290, as modified by the case of Lee Ming Ho [2024] 1 HKLRD 1186.
This case involves a total of 542 grammes of ‘Ice’ narcotic. According to guideline case of Tam Yi Chun [2014] 3 HKLRD 691, the sentencing band for trafficking between 300 to 600 grammes of ‘Ice’ would be 15 to 20 years of imprisonment. So, arithmetically, the starting point for trafficking in 542 grammes of ‘Ice’ narcotic should be 19 years’ imprisonment.
I accept counsel’s submission that on the facts of this case, his role was one of courier. And the Court of Appeal has said that for courier and storekeeper, they are considered to be people at the lowest bottom of the trafficking hierarchy, and the arithmetic starting point would be appropriate for this kind of people. Therefore, I adopt 19 years as the notional sentence starting point after trial.
As I have said, the defendant has four previous convictions for possession of dangerous drug. In 2014 he was convicted of trafficking in dangerous drug, and was sentenced to 8 years and 8 months’ imprisonment for trafficking in the same kind of drug ‘Ice’. He was only discharged about 2½ years before the present offence, but still it appears that the imprisonment did not teach him any lesson. He was not deterred and he engaged in trafficking in ‘Ice’ again. Bearing in mind his criminal record, I consider that he is a persistent offender as a drug trafficker and for drug-related offences, and I will enhance his sentence by 3 months for that matter. Therefore, the total starting point is increased to 19 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.
He is entitled to a full one-third discount for his early plea of guilty. Thereby his sentence is reduced to that of 12 years and 10 months’ imprisonment, and that is the sentence I impose on the defendant.