COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug before a magistrate on 27 February this year. The Particulars of Offence allege that on the 25th day of August 2023, at Mok Cheong Street in To Kwa Wan, she unlawfully trafficked in 2,939 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 2,929 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, which is commonly known as ‘Ice’.
According to the Summary of Facts to which she admitted at the time of her guilty plea, she was intercepted by the Customs Officers at about 2.40 pm on 25 August 2023 outside No. 19 Mok Cheong Street in To Kwa Wan. At that time, she was carrying a big white nylon bag and was furtively looking around.
Upon search of the nylon bag, the officers found two purported boxes of blank papers by a brand name. Inside those two boxes, there was one pack of blank papers stacked on top of each box. Underneath that was disguised paper pack which concealed the dangerous drug particularised in the charge.
The estimated street value of the all the drug was about HK$1,349,001.
Upon her arrest, the defendant denied knowledge of the drug under caution. In the subsequent video-recorded interview, she stated that she used to work as a maid but now she worked as a part-time restaurant cleaner. A female friend called “SASA” whom she knew for two to three months asked her to collect the bag in Kam Tin, which she did from an unknown black man there. She was promised a reward but she did not yet know the amount. She accepted the offer because she was in need of money. SASA was stored as a contact in her mobile phone by the name of “Bels Bels”.
Upon examination of her mobile phone, there was no communication found between her and the alleged SASA or Bels Bels. Instead there was relevant communication with a contact name called “luv”. The WhatsApp exchanges between the defendant and luv indicated that on the day before the arrest, that is 24 August, luv sent photographs of a park in Kam Tin and told the defendant where to meet the black person tomorrow. The defendant showed photographs of a warehouse that showed a pile of boxes of purported blank papers, and the boxes were of the same brand as those later seized. She also drew a marking on the photograph of one of the boxes. Luv told her that they should be very careful, and if something happened, all the chats should be deleted.
On the day of her arrest, the defendant told luv how she picked up the white nylon bag and said it was very heavy. In addition, inside her phone, there were close-up photographs of the paper boxes that were identical to the ones seized.
The defendant now admits that she had knowledge of the ‘Ice’ in the boxes and took in its possession for the purpose of unlawful trafficking.
The defendant is now 28 years of age. She is an Indonesian national with a clear criminal record in Hong Kong. In mitigation, counsel Ms Elizabeth Herbert informed me she had attained High School education. She came to Hong Kong in year 2019 to work legally as a domestic helper, earning a salary of about $5,000 per month. At that time, she made financial contributions of $1,000 each month to her family members. She was separated from her husband. She had a 60-year-old mother and also an 8-year-old daughter back in Indonesia.
In January 2023 she lost her domestic helper job, that was about seven months before her arrest. Counsel told me that during those seven months’ period she had a little bit of savings, so she lived on her savings but mainly she relied on loans. She was in a bad financial situation as she had taken out multiple loans and was struggling to make repayments. Counsel submitted that she also had a clear criminal record back in Indonesia.
In respect of her role and culpability in this matter, counsel submitted that she should simply be treated as a courier for the purpose of sentencing, pointing out that there were no other aggravating features.
Counsel also submitted a letter prepared by Father John Wotherspoon which stated that the defendant had actively participated in his anti-drug campaign by submitting her story for local and internet use, and urged this court to give her an additional reduction of sentence. Counsel urged this court to impose as lenient a sentence as possible.
In sentencing the defendant, I do bear in mind the approach set out by the Court of Appeal in the cases of HKSAR v Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HKLRD 290 and HKSAR v Lee Ming Ho [2024] 1 HKLRD 1186.
According to the revised guidelines in the recent case of HKSAR v Huang Ruifang [2025] 2 HKLRD 138, the starting point for trafficking in between 1,500 and 5,000 grammes of ‘Ice’ narcotic should be 20 to 24 years’ imprisonment after trial. So the mathematical starting point for trafficking in 2,929 grammes of ‘Ice’ narcotic should be one of 21 years and 7 months’ imprisonment.
The mathematical starting point is appropriate for persons at the lower bottom of the trafficking hierarchy such as storekeepers and courier. In this case, I accept counsel’s submission that the role of the defendant was merely that of a courier, so the appropriate starting point to be adopted after trial should be one of 21 years and 7 months’ imprisonment.
The defendant pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to the charge. On that basis she is entitled to a full one-third discount, and that would reduce her sentence to 14 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.
In respect of her participation in Father John Wotherspoon’s anti-drug campaign, I saw from the Father’s letter to this court and the attached papers that he is the director of an NGO, a non-government organisation called “Voice for Prisoners” that works in partnership with the Beat Drugs Fund which comes under the Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau. Part of their work involved is to use stories from people in detention in the hope that the stories can stop other people from getting involved in drug trafficking. They would post such stories on the internet at their website and the social media sites.
According to the Father’s letter, this defendant has helped the campaign by submitting her story for local and internet use, but that was all her participation in this matter.
According to the Court of Appeal’s case of HKSAR v Kilima [2018] 5 HKLRD 88, it is within a judge’s discretion to give a small token discount to a defendant for his or her participation in Father John Wotherspoon’s program. However it should be no more than a token one because one must not forget that trafficking in dangerous drug is a crime of the utmost gravity. The court must balance public interests in sentencing and must not be too lenient. 3 months is to be regarded as the maximum discount to be afforded for this factor.
Taking into account the information before me, it seems all the defendant had done was to submit her stories for local and internet use, and there is no information before me that her assistance may result in any fruitful investigation or potentially of assistance to any investigation authority either in Hong Kong or back in Indonesia.
In any event, I do take into account the fact that she actively participated in this campaign, and prisoners should be encouraged to participate in similar programs in the hope that other people would be discouraged from drug trafficking activities. In the circumstances I see fit to give her a small additional discount of 1 month.
So the ultimate sentence to be imposed on this defendant would be 14 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.