HKSAR v. AZHAR GHAFAR

DCCC 762/2025

[2026] HKDC 243

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

CRIMINAL CASE NO 762 OF 2025

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REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Charges

1.  The defendant pleads guilty to Charge 1, trafficking in dangerous drugs, and Charge 2, possession of Part I poison. 

Facts

2.  At about 9 pm on 5 January 2025, some police officers were conducting vehicle patrol.  They saw the defendant acting furtively at the driver’s seat inside a private car ZL3701 which was parked on the roadside of Hung Kei Road, Yuen Long.  Police officers demanded the defendant to alight from the vehicle and searched him. 

3.  Officers found from the defendant’s trousers pocket and from inside the car a total of 114 small bags containing 16.45 grammes of a solid containing 15.13 grammes of cocaine, and 52 small bags containing 15.47 grammes of a solid containing 13.01 grammes of ketamine (Exhibits 1 to 8), and also 10 cartridges containing 11.2 grammes of a liquid containing etomidate (Exhibit 9)  (refer to paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Admitted Facts). 

4.  Officers found two mobile phones and $8,708, which money was put between the front passenger seat and the driver’s seat. 

5.  Later in the police station, the defendant in a video-recorded interview said, among other things, that the cocaine, ketamine and etomidate were purchased earlier that day.  He said the drugs were for his own consumption. The $8,000-odd were for purchasing dangerous drugs and the car was borrowed from his friend. 

6.  The street value of the drugs in question was estimated to be more than $28,000. 

Criminal Record

7.  Defendant is a Hong Kong resident.  He has two previous convictions which are not similar. 

Mitigation

8.  Defence Counsel says the defendant is 26 now, living with his parents and siblings before the arrest.  He was a recycling worker then. 

9.  Counsel says the defendant is remorseful now.  He used to consume cocaine but seldom took ketamine.  During the remand, he was healed of drug addiction.  So, he is no longer an addict. 

10.  Counsel points out the guidelines for trafficking in dangerous drugs. They are 5 to 8 years’ imprisonment for trafficking in 10 to 50 grammes of cocaine, and 4 to 6 years’ imprisonment for trafficking in 10 to 50 grammes of ketamine. 

11.  Counsel provides his calculation for the notional starting points under the absurdity test, conversion test and ratio test as follows. 

12.  Absurdity test, if all the 28.14 grammes of narcotics were cocaine, the notional starting point would be about 76 months’ imprisonment; conversion test, if the 13.01 grammes of ketamine were converted to cocaine of equivalent severity in sentence (equivalent to about 7.5 grammes of cocaine), the notional starting point would be about 71 months of imprisonment; ratio test, the notional starting point would be about 68 months’ imprisonment. 

13.  Counsel says the defendant was a mere courier.  He has no previous record of drugs dealing.  Counsel says a starting point of 5½ years’ imprisonment would be justified.  He asks the court to give the defendant one-third discount for his plea. 

14.  Counsel says the defendant bought the drugs in question to sell to people he knew for profit and also for his own consumption. 

15.  As to how much of the drugs he would consume himself, counsel says the defendant was an addict of cocaine and cannabis but he seldom took ketamine. 

16.  Counsel says the 16.45 grammes of a solid containing 15.13 grammes of cocaine was not that much.  Usually a cocaine addict could consume 6 to 7 grammes of cocaine (talking about purity)  in a week.  Counsel asks the court to give the defendant some discount for his intended use of a portion of the cocaine in question. 

17.  As to how long the defendant would need to sell the drugs in question and how much cocaine he would take, counsel says the defendant elects to give no evidence. 

18.  Finally, counsel asks the court to order the two terms of sentences to run concurrently. 

Sentence

19.  The defendant trafficked in 114 small bags containing 16.45 grammes of a solid containing 15.13 grammes of cocaine and 52 small bags containing 15.47 grammes of a solid containing 13.01 grammes of ketamine.  He also had 10 cartridges containing 11.2 grammes of a liquid containing etomidate, which was just listed as a Part I poison at that time.  Etomidate only became dangerous drugs from 14 February 2025.  Thus the defendant was not charged with trafficking in etomidate but merely possession of Part I poison in Charge 2. 

20.  15.13 grammes of cocaine by itself can attract a starting point of 64 months’ imprisonment and 13.01 grammes of ketamine by itself can attract a starting point of 50 months’ imprisonment. 

21.  The dangerous drugs in questions were in many bags, totalling 166 bags. They could be sold to a lot of users. 

22.  And trafficking in more than one dangerous drug is another aggravating factor. 

23.  Regarding own consumption, counsel admits the defendant seldom took ketamine.  As to the cocaine, there is no evidence that the defendant would consume a significant portion of the cocaine in question.  Thus there is no reduction of sentence for any alleged own consumption by the defendant. 

24.  The defendant was not a courier.  He was actually a seller of dangerous drugs.  He has no previous record relating to drugs.  Having considered all the facts of the case and counsel’s mitigation, I am of the view that the right starting point for Charge 1 should be 6 years’ imprisonment.  After one-third discount for plea, the sentence for Charge 1 is 48 months’ imprisonment. 

25.  Charge 2 is possession of 10 cartridges containing 11.02 grammes of liquid containing etomidate.  The starting point should be 6 months’ imprisonment.  After one-third discount for plea, the sentence would be 4 months’ imprisonment. 

Totality

26.  Having considered the issue of totality, I order 2 months of Charge 2 to run consecutively to the 48 months of Charge 1.  That results in a total of 50 months’ imprisonment for both counts.