COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134.
The defendant, holder of a Tanzanian passport, arrived in Hong Kong from Nairobi. His baggage was checked, which revealed nil result. He was later taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where examination confirmed the presence of foreign objects in his body cavity. He eventually excreted a total of 65 packets of drugs.
The drugs, on a later analysis, were found to be 0.93 kilogram of a mixture containing 0.45 kilogram of heroin hydrochloride.
Under caution he admitted that he was trafficking in the said drugs, and those drugs had an estimated retail value of $838,860.
The defendant is now aged 41. He has a clear record. I am told that he is married, with two daughters aged 12 and 4, and he also looked after his sister’s 14-year-old son.
By way of mitigation Mr Whitehouse told the court that this is a typical case of a courier of drugs being used by others. This was the very first time that he came to Hong Kong. It is said that he came from a farming family and ran a small provisional store with his wife with a sideline business of a self-employed gem stone dealer. It is also said that a female wholesaler put him up to this and he foolishly agreed to do so. Counsel urges me for a lenient sentence to enable him to reunite with his family as soon as possible.
In sentencing the defendant, I have taken into account the nature of the offence, the quantity of the drugs involved, the appropriate sentencing authorities and tariffs, as well as the handwritten letter of the defendant in which he offered his apologies to the Hong Kong Government for transgressing the law and committing such a serious offence.
For trafficking in heroin weighing between 400 and 600 grammes, a starting point of between 15 and 20 years is to be adopted.
In this case, an international element is present, which is an aggravating feature calling for enhancement of not less than 2 years should the narcotics weight about 1 kilogram. In this case, the narcotics are less than 1 kilogram.
Taking all those into account, I consider a starting point of 18 years’ imprisonment appropriate. I shall give him the full one-third discount for his plea of guilty.
He is sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.