CRIMINAL CASE NO. 368 OF 2011
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.
She is a holder of a Ugandan passport. She was intercepted at Customs clearance at the Hong Kong International Airport from Entebbe via Addis Ababa.
Her check-in baggage was searched, and a bag of dangerous drugs was found hidden in a secret compartment of the baggage.
She admitted that she was delivering the drugs to mainland China under the instructions of others and was given an air ticket and US$200 as travelling expenses.
Upon analysis, the drugs were found to be 1,000 grammes of mixture containing a total of 380 grammes of heroin hydrochloride with a retail value of around HK$685,000.
By way of mitigation I am told that the defendant is now aged 25, of clear record both in Hong Kong and back in Uganda. She used to be in the clothing business, earning around US$50 per month, and she has been diagnosed to be HIV positive two years ago. It is advanced on her behalf that she committed the present offence for financial reasons, as she came from a modest family, and medical expenses to treat her disease is high back in Uganda.
In sentencing the defendant I have taken into account the nature of the offence, the kind of drugs involved in this case, sentencing authorities and tariffs, as well as mitigation advanced by counsel and those contained in the defendant’s handwritten letter.
For trafficking in heroin weighing between 200 and 400 grammes, a starting point of more than 12 to 15 years is to be adopted. The international element has been reiterated in the case of Abdallah Anwar Abbas. It is first laid down in the case of Hong Chang Chi [2002] 1 HKLRD 486, and the Court of Appeal has this to say:
“When it comes to importing drugs from other jurisdictions into Hong Kong, the public interest demands that the message should be made more clearly than in almost any other situation. Drug traffickers from abroad, importing drugs into Hong Kong, should plainly understand that they will receive no sympathetic consideration whatsoever on account of their status as foreigners or, as in this case, on account of their incarceration some distance from home. On the contrary, in cases of this kind, the very act of importation from abroad, is an aggravating factor. Those who live outside this jurisdiction, such as the Applicant in the present case, must be disabused of any notion that Hong Kong is anything other than resolute in dealing with such offences.”
In the case of Abdallah Anwar, for the amount over 1 kilogram of heroin, international element will attract an enhancement of not less than 2 years.
Taking into account the international factor and the amount of drugs involved in the present case, I adopt a starting point of 15½ years, and I shall give the defendant the full one‑third discount for her plea of guilty.
There is no evidence before me that the fact that she is HIV positive is life-threatening or affect her life expectancy, so I am not giving any further discount on that.
She is sentenced to 10 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.