COURT: The defendant, Miss Souza Dos Santos, was committed for sentence for pleading guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug.
The total quantity of dangerous drug involved in this case is 943.60 grammes of cocaine. The estimated street value of the cocaine amounts to over HK$1.3 million.
The defendant is a Brazilian citizen. On 28 July 2014, she was intercepted by Customs officers at the Customs Arrival Hall of the Hong Kong International Airport. Upon search of a red nylon bag carried by the defendant, some cocaine was found inside the covering pad of a computer therein. More cocaine was found concealed in various items contained in the defendant’s bags.
In a cautioned interview assisted by an interpreter, the defendant said she was asked by a Columbian woman named “Jemie” to bring cocaine into Hong Kong from Brazil. Jemie paid for her expenses, and she will be rewarded US$6,000 for doing that. She has not received the reward yet.
The defendant is now 42 years old. She was born in Manaus of Brazil and was working as a cashier in a supermarket in Sao Paulo before committing this offence. Her salary was around US$320 per month. She has a son aged 18. She has no criminal record in Hong Kong.
In mitigation, Mr Raffell, counsel appearing for the defendant, submitted that the defendant has pleaded guilty before the magistrate. She has shown her remorse, which can be seen from her letter written by herself to the court. In the letter she said she was truly ashamed of having committed the present offence. Mr Raffell urged this court to give the defendant a full discount of her guilty plea, and considered also the factor or rehabilitation when deciding the appropriate starting point.
Trafficking in dangerous drugs is an extremely serious offence. Persons committing this offence will inevitably be faced with a long imprisonment sentence. The length of imprisonment imposed mainly depends on the quantity of dangerous drugs involved.
As rightly pointed out by Mr Raffell, for trafficking in cocaine this court should follow the tariff laid down in The Queen v Lau Tak Ming, and for the large quantity involved in this case, to consider also HKSAR v Abdallah.
For trafficking of cocaine of a quantity between 600 grammes and 1,200 grammes, a starting point of 20 to 23 years’ imprisonment should be adopted. In this case, the quantity involved is over 943 grammes, the appropriate starting point should be 21½ years’ imprisonment.
In the present case, the defendant imported the cocaine from Brazil into Hong Kong. This is an aggravating factor. Following the guideline in HKSAR v Chung Ping Kun, I should enhance the sentence by 6 months’ imprisonment.
The heavy sentence imposed for this kind of offence is for deterrence purposes. Whilst I accept that the defendant has shown her remorse, the factor of rehabilitation should carry little weight for consideration.
The only mitigating factor in this case is, indeed, the early guilty plea.
In the circumstances, the appropriate sentence, if convicted after trial, is 22 years’ imprisonment. Given the full one‑third discount to her guilty plea, the sentence is reduced to 14 years and 8 months.