COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty in the Eastern Magistracy on 7 October 2024 to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. He was committed to the Court of First Instance for sentence. Today, he confirms his plea and admission of the Summary of Facts.
The particulars of the offence are that the defendant, on 11 March 2023, at Customs Arrival Hall, Hong Kong International Airport, unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely 1.04 kilogrammes of a crystalline solid containing 991 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.
The Facts
The defendant arrived on 11 March 2023 into Hong Kong from Uganda via Addis Ababa. Upon arrival, he was refused permission to land in Hong Kong. He was escorted from the Immigration Department Detention Centre to Customs Arrival Hall B for customs clearance. His rucksack was searched but nothing was found. His body was searched and nothing was found. It was suspected after some questions and answers that the defendant had drugs concealed in his body cavity therefore he was escorted to North Lantau Hospital for examination.
That evening, a doctor confirmed that an X-ray image revealed foreign objects inside the defendant’s body. He was arrested for a drug related offence and remained silent under caution.
Ultimately, he discharged from his body a total of 90 pellets, small pellets of plastic wrapping containing a total of 1.04 kilogrammes of a crystalline solid containing 991 grammes of ‘Ice’. The defendant agrees that in March 2023, the estimated value of that ‘Ice’ was $698,880.
Mitigation
The defendant is now 32 years old and a Ugandan national. He is a married man with a young daughter. He is a university graduate and had full-time employment. He found himself under financial pressure when his mother became unwell and he had to help pay for his younger sister’s school fees. On top of that, he had to support his own family. I have been told he has a clear record in Uganda and a Catholic church in Uganda has written a letter stating they, the church have no record of the defendant being involved in any criminal activity within their community.
This is his first trip to Hong Kong. I have heard full mitigation from Mr Arthur. The defendant’s best mitigation is his plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity. I have a letter from the defendant expressing his remorse. I have an open letter or article entitled “Caught in the Snare”, explaining how he came to traffic drugs into Hong Kong, how he is remorseful and warned others of the consequences.
Father Wotherspoon has written a letter on behalf of this defendant dated 27 April 2025, suggesting the defendant has identified the man who recruited him to swallow and bring drugs to Hong Kong to the Ugandan police, supplying them with his phone number and a copy of his Nigerian passport. It appears a man with that same name was arrested before this defendant’s information was passed to Ugandan police but he was granted bail and has since absconded.
Father Wotherspoon requests a 3 months reduction from the ultimate sentence to reflect useful information given to the authorities by the defendant.
Sentencing
I have considered the approach to sentencing those that traffic in dangerous drugs. With the Court of Appeal’s guidance in the most recent authority HKSAR v Lee Ming Ho [2024] HKCA 150, I now consider the six steps as set out in HKSAR v Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HKLRD 290.
Those six steps include assessing the gravity of the offence and the applicable guideline, identifying the defendant’s role, where within the guideline the defendant should lie, any aggravating factors, any mitigating factors, and lastly passing a sentence which is fair, just, and balanced in all circumstances of the offence and the defendant.
The first step is to assess the gravity of the offence and identify the applicable guideline according to the drug seized. Taking into account the latest guidelines in HKSAR v Huang Ruifang [2025] HKCA 234, the starting point for trafficking in methamphetamine hydrochloride of this quantity falls in the bracket of 18 to 20 years’ imprisonment. Mathematically, trafficking in 991 grammes attracts a starting point of 18 years and 10 months’ imprisonment.
The defendant’s role is one of an importer. Essentially he was a courier. This is a position at the bottom of the hierarchy of drug traffickers. I will take a starting point of 18 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.
Now, the fourth and fifth steps require me to consider whether there are any aggravating factors or any exceptional mitigating factors. The defendant’s culpability is increased or aggravated by the fact he imported a significant quantity of ‘Ice’ into Hong Kong. Bringing drugs across the Hong Kong border from overseas will attract an enhancement in the starting point. Considering the quantity of the ‘Ice’, I increase that starting point of 18 years and 9 months by 18 months.
The defendant has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and is entitled to a full one-third discount. After that discount is applied, the defendant is sentenced to 13 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.
I reduce that sentence by a further 1 month to take into consideration the defendant’s contribution to Father Wotherspoon’s anti-drug campaign.
With the last step in mind, I consider this sentence to be, although substantial, a fair, just, and balanced one in light of the circumstances of the offence as well as the defendant.
Accordingly, the defendant is sentenced to 13 years and 5 months’ imprisonment for this offence.