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HCCC 437/2012
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 437 OF 2012
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HKSAR |
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Tabima Cortes Julio Cesar |
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| Date: |
26 April 2013 at 10.20 am |
| Present: |
Mr Andrew Cheng, SPP(Ag) of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR |
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Mr Nicholas E W Adams, instructed by Cheung, Chan & Chung, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a single charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you, on 14 June of last year, at Hong Kong International Airport, unlawfully trafficked in 0.69 kilograms of cocaine.
The Summary of Facts are straightforward and all too familiar. They speak of you arriving on a flight from Dubai. You were searched by a Customs officer, and the drugs being the subject matter of the charge were found in a compartment in your backpack.
The estimated street value of the cocaine is approximately HK$1 million.
You later on told the Customs officer in a recorded interview that as you had been in debt to others in Colombia, you in return were asked by a male called Gabriel to assist him by delivering something to a person in Hong Kong.
You are 49 years of age, a Colombian national, and have two daughters back home in Colombia.
Whilst I take everything that has been said on your behalf by way of mitigation in terms of sentencing, the fact that you fell prey to others in Colombia and felt that you had no choice but to do as you were requested is of no mitigating value.
The only real mitigation in this case, as your counsel concedes, is your plea of guilty, for which I will give you full credit.
The starting point for trafficking in 600 to 1200 grammes of cocaine has been laid down in HKSAR v Abdallah CA No 304/2008, and ranges between 20 to 23 years’ imprisonment.
There is of course an aggravating feature in this case, that being that you brought these drugs into Hong Kong for distribution.
Accordingly, I take as my starting point a sentence of 20 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. I will enhance that sentence by 1 year to take account of the aggravating feature that I have identified, coming to 21 years 6 months.
I give you the full one-third discount in sentence to reflect your plea of guilty, arriving at a sentence of 14 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.
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