COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs before a magistrate and was committed for sentence. On 10 September 2023, when the defendant arrived at Hong Kong International Airport via flight from Brazil, he was arrested by Customs Officers after suspected drugs were found wrapped by a bandage on his waist in a body search. Subsequent examination confirmed that the suspected drugs were 3 kilogrammes of a solid containing 2.49 kilogrammes of cocaine.
The estimated street value of the drugs was approximately HK$3.3 million.
The defendant admitted that he was asked by a Nigerian person named Bam to bring the drugs to Hong Kong and the drugs were wrapped around his waist in Brazil by two unknown males. With the consent of the defendant, a controlled delivery operation was conducted but it was not successful.
The defendant was born in South Africa. He is now 33 years old. He lived with his fiancée in Johannesburg. He is not married but has four young children aged from 1 year old to 11 years old. He has no criminal record in Hong Kong.
In mitigation, Mr David Khosa, counsel for the defendant, submitted that the defendant was asked by his Nigerian landlord to go to Brazil for a renovation work with a view to obtain a permanent job there. But in Brazil, he was persuaded to bring the cocaine to Hong Kong.
The defendant and his family members, including his fiancée, his daughter, parents, brother, aunt and uncle wrote letters to the court asking for leniency. The defendant wrote that he committed the present offence because of financial pressure. Father John Wotherspoon also wrote a letter to the court, indicating that the defendant has assisted in his anti-drug campaign by writing letters.
In considering the appropriate sentence for trafficking in cocaine, I make reference to the judgments of the Court of Appeal in HKSAR v Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HKLRD 290 and the Court of Appeal case in HKSAR v Huang Ruifang (No. 3) [2025] 2 HKLRD 138.
The quantity of cocaine involved in the present case is 2.49 kilogrammes. Under Huang Ruifang, The starting point for trafficking in cocaine for 1,500 grammes to 5,000 grammes should be in the range of 20 to 24 years’ imprisonment.
The defendant is an international courier. Although international element itself is not a separate aggravating factor, the court will take this into account when considering the role played by the defendant in deciding the proper starting point within the tariff. The defendant had participated in a designed scheme to smuggle a large bulk of drugs into Hong Kong. In the circumstances, I will adopt a starting point of 22 years’ imprisonment for the present offence. Taking into account the defendant’s guilty plea, the sentence should be reduced to 14 years and 8 months.
The defendant was co-operative in performing the controlled delivery operation and participated in Father John’s campaign to fight drug trafficking. For these reasons together, I give a further reduction of 6 months in his sentence.
To conclude, the defendant is therefore sentenced to 14 years and 2 months’ imprisonment.