COURT: The defendant was charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely, 11.92 kilogrammes of a solid containing 8.64 kilogrammes of ketamine.
The facts are not unusual. The defendant arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport on 8 November, on a commercial flight from Amsterdam. And as he went through Customs, the drugs were detected in his suitcase, and it was in a false compartment.
And at the time of his arrest, the defendant had on him two mobile phones and over 2,000 in Euros and some Israeli shekel, and Czech Koruna.
The street value of the drugs in November 2024 was estimated to be about $5.5 million.
The defendant pleaded guilty in the Magistrates’ Court and he has been remitted to this court for a sentencing.
Now Mr Percy had set out the defendant’s background in detail and that the defendant is an Israeli national but was a holder of a Czech Republican passport. And he is now 65 years old and he had attended the Ben-Gurion University in Israel and qualified with an engineering degree. And has been married and has children in Israel. And he was involved in a mining business and has been around the world doing his business.
Now Mr Percy corrected his initial information to this court that, in fact, the defendant was on a business trip to Czechoslovakia and his mother was living full-time in Israel. And the fact of the matter is unfortunately his mother passed away on 1 January, this year.
Now it is also of note that the defendant had not given up on himself, he has been assiduously studying the New Testament whilst in prison, as the certificates show, and that is a good start. However, drug trafficking is, as I have always said, a very serious offence, particularly with people with our porous borders, and people bringing in drugs, and we are fighting a constant battle, both in our ports and border crossings, to prevent these drugs coming into Hong Kong and harming our civilians.
So the courts have, over the years, placed a big significance on the deterrent effect, to hopefully deter others tempted to bring in drugs, to stop them with heavy sentences. The drugs in this case is over $5 million worth, and has a very big potential harm on our society.
As Mr Percy has correctly pointed out, at the moment, the sentencing guidelines in the Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng in 2009 stated that for sentencing over 1,000 grammes of ketamine, it really should be over 14 years’ imprisonment as a starting point. And as he correctly pointed out, the Court of Appeal has given leave for a defendant to appeal against his sentencing in ketamine drugs. And hopefully, the Court of Appeal will lay down some new sentencing guidelines for ketamine in the not-too-distant future.
However, at the moment, I am bound by the sentencing guidelines that has been prevalent since 2009. But because of the quantity, the large quantity of the drugs in this case, it has gone beyond the sentencing guidelines and a large part is for me to consider both the circumstances of the case, and to consider also the deterrent effect, and the background of the defendant, and then coming to a proper starting point for this case.
Mr Percy suggested that it should be in the region of about 20 years. I agree that up to a certain point, the quantity cannot be considered in a close mathematical way as for the lesser quantity. I, therefore, having looked at the circumstances of the case, consider that a proper starting point in this case would be one of 21 years’ imprisonment.
Mr Percy has also pointed out that as far as the enhancement is concerned, I consider it together with, apart from the international element, the role and culpability of the defendant. And having considered all that, I consider that, as he suggested, a 15-month enhancement would be appropriate in this case.
Having considered the starting point, I will also say that I accept the remorse that the defendant has offered, both in his letter to this court, and also as demonstrated in his early plea. So he is entitled to the full one-third discount for this. So that is about the only mitigation I can see in this case.
Mr Percy has mentioned the background of his family in going to Czechoslovakia, and prior to that, the Holocaust. There was suffering, and I accept that. However, it pales into insignificance when one is dealing with drug trafficking.
So having said that, I would consider the starting point of 21 years’ imprisonment plus 15 months’ imprisonment, and taking one-third off will result in a sentence of 14 years and 10 months.
So the defendant is sentenced to 14 years and 10 months.