CRIMINAL CASE NO. 164 OF 2012
COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 27.1 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 26.45 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride.
He was seen by police officers, acting suspiciously, at around 8 pm last year in Wanchai. Police stopped him and he attempted to flee. He put up a struggle and, subsequently, after he was subdued, inside his underpants were found the drugs which are the subject matter of the charge.
The seized dangerous drugs have a total retail value of about HK$20,379.
The defendant is aged 33 and does not have a very good record. He has been convicted on five previous occasions and in 1998, he was convicted of trafficking in a dangerous drug and was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment. Upon his release from prison, subsequently, in 2004, he was convicted again of possession of dangerous drugs and he was sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment. So the defendant is no stranger to dangerous drugs.
I am told by Mr Yuen that he was a cook and also a transportation worker and has a wife and son in Thailand. But as Mr Yuen correctly pointed out, the only mitigating factor in this case is the early plea.
The guidelines laid down in Ching Kwok Hung in 1991 for trafficking in methamphetamine hydrochloride recommend that for trafficking of between 10 to 70 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, a period of 7 to 10 years’ imprisonment is recommended.
Here, for the total amount of 26.45 grammes, I consider an appropriate starting point would be one of 8 years’ imprisonment. So taking one-third off for his early plea, the defendant is sentenced to 5 years and 4 months.