COURT: The defendant, Cheung Chi-bo, pleaded guilty before me to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The offence took place on 14 September 2016. It concerns 500 grammes of a solid containing 355 grammes of cocaine.
At about 4.46 am on the day in question, police officers were on patrol duty inside a police vehicle in the vicinity of Yau Ma Tai and the defendant was spotted acting furtively near the junction of Nathan Road and Jordan Road, Kowloon. The defendant was carrying a plastic bag, wearing a shoulder bag and walking hurriedly while at the same time, looking around. He was intercepted for investigation.
Inside the plastic bag which the defendant was holding, a cornflakes paper box was found containing two plastic bags of cocaine, ie, a plastic bag containing 250 grammes of a solid containing 177 grammes of cocaine and another plastic bag containing 250 grammes of a solid containing 178 grammes of cocaine, in total, 355 grammes of cocaine.
The defendant was arrested and cautioned, under which he remained silent. He further remained silent in a subsequent video-recorded interview. At the time of arrest, the defendant had with him cash of $3,998.70 and renminbi 200 yuan and three mobile phones. House search of the defendant’s residence located in Lei Yue Mun found nothing suspicious.
The estimated street value of the dangerous drug seized is about $555,500 as of September 2016.
The defendant accepts and admits that at the material time, he was in possession of the dangerous drugs seized for the purpose of unlawful trafficking.
The defendant is now 37 years old. He was unemployed at the time and is single. The criminal record of the defendant shows that he has a total of 27 previous conviction records. His criminal career started in 1995. He was convicted of one count of possession for the purpose of trade or business of infringing copies of sound recordings in which copyright subsisted. Over the years, the defendant accumulated a total of 27 criminal records arising out of 18 matters. He has one similar conviction for trafficking in dangerous drugs which took place in 2011 and he was sentenced to 5 years and 8 months’ imprisonment, and he has three other drugs-related convictions.
Mr So, in mitigation for the defendant, submits that the present case is a straightforward case of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The defendant is 37 years old, single and was born in Hong Kong. He has lost contact with his parents for over 10 years. The defendant completed Form 2 education in Hong Kong at 14 years old. He then joined the work force and had taken up different jobs over the years, for example, delivery worker and casual worker, earning around $9,000 per month.
He had committed various offences over the years and had been sentenced to imprisonment. It is evident from the criminal record that all the past convictions were not drugs related until 2010; he was convicted for possession of a dangerous drug in 2010. Then in 2011, the defendant was convicted of trafficking in a dangerous drug. Mr So submits that the defendant was a drug addict.
In the present case, the defendant pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity. He submits that the defendant is entitled to the full one-third reduction for his guilty plea.
Although the defendant has one previous conviction for trafficking in dangerous drugs, Mr So urges me not to treat the defendant as a recidivist. As this case concerns trafficking in cocaine, Mr So submits that the tariffs as set down in Lau Tak Ming are applicable. As this case concerns 355 grammes of cocaine, he submits that a starting point of 14 years is appropriate.
In sentencing the defendant, I have borne in mind the nature of the drugs involved and its quantity. I have also borne in mind the facts of this case as admitted by the defendant and the background information of the defendant. As rightly pointed out by Mr So, the tariffs in Lau Tak Ming are applicable to trafficking in cocaine. The Court of Appeal in the case Pedro Nel Rojas [1994] 2 HKCLR 69 says:
“The guidelines in Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR 370 are the correct basis for sentence since cocaine and heroin are very closely alike in their degree of harm.”
According to the tariff set down by the Court of Appeal in Lau Tak Ming, for between 200 grammes and 400 grammes of narcotics, the starting point should be 12 to 15 years. This case concerns 355 grammes of cocaine. Applying the tariffs as set down in Lau Tak Ming, I agree with Mr So that the starting point that I should adopt in the present case should be 14 years’ imprisonment. I agree with the submissions of Mr So and I would not treat the defendant as a recidivist.
The defendant is entitled to full one-third reduction for his guilty plea tendered at the first available opportunity. That will bring the sentence down to 9 years and 4 months’ imprisonment. Apart from the guilty plea of the defendant, there is no other mitigating factor which can further reduce the sentence.
For the reasons given, I sentence the defendant to 9 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.