COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to a count of trafficking in dangerous drugs at the committal proceedings. The particulars of the charge is that on the 22nd day of February 2023, in Yau Ma Tei, he unlawfully trafficked in dangerous drugs, namely, 11.79 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 11.72 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride and also 0.01 grammes of a solid containing cocaine.
The facts are as follows.
On 22 February 2023, at around 4.30 in the morning, police had set up a road block outside No. 16 Dundas Street, Yau Ma Tei. At about 5 o’clock in the morning, police stopped a taxi at the road block. You were the front seat passenger, and there are two other females who are at the back seat in the taxi.
You were asked by the police to alight for a body search. No suspicious items were found on you or on the bag carried by you. However, police noticed that you have some unusual
body movements. With your consent, you were escorted into a police vehicle, where a detailed search was conducted on you.
From the inside of your underpants, a piece of white tissue wrapping a transparent resealable plastic bag containing 8.85 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 8.80 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride. There are three other transparent resealable plastic bags containing relatively smaller quantities of ‘Ice’. There is also a transparent resealable plastic bag containing 0.01 grammes containing cocaine.
Government chemist later confirmed that from those five resealable plastic bags, a total of 11.79 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 11.72 grammes of ‘Ice’ and also 0.01 grammes of a solid containing cocaine.
You were arrested and cautioned there and then, to which you said “those five packets of ‘Ice’ are for my own consumption”. House search was conducted at your residence in Sham Shui Po, with no equipment for consuming drugs or other suspicious items found.
You were later interviewed under caution, and you admitted, inter alia, the five plastic bags of substances seized from you were drugs ‘Ice’, and all of them are for your own consumption. Further, at the material time, you were travelling in the taxi with two new female friends to To Kwa Wan to have fun together, and the mobile phone seized from you belonged to you.
In February 2023, the estimated value of the methamphetamine hydrochloride was $5,730, and the cocaine was between $8 to $10, depending on whether it is in powder form or crack form.
Now, you have now admitted that all the drugs seized were for the purpose of unlawful trafficking, and you have abandoned your claim of self-consumption or some of them for self-consumption. Hence, no discount will be given to you for self-consumption.
You are now 38 years old. From the record, I have no doubt you are a drug addict. You appeared before court on ten occasions. On five occasions, you were convicted of possession of dangerous drugs, and on one other occasion you were convicted of trafficking in dangerous drugs. The conviction for trafficking in dangerous drugs is in 2010. On that occasion, you were sentenced to a term of
imprisonment for 3 years and 4 months. However, it seems that that did not deter you from drugs, because since then, on four other occasions, you were before the court for simple possession.
In fact, according to what I have been told by your counsel, you have sought help from an organisation known as P‑S33‑Tsim Sha Tsui Centre and referred you to Jockey Club Lodge of Rising Sun for drug rehabilitation programme. It did not work for you, because later on in 2017, you were sent to DATC for your drug addiction. However, DATC also did not work for you, because after your discharge from DATC, you were, on other two occasions, being convicted of simple possession. On those two occasions, the court dealt with you by way of a term of imprisonment.
Your drug addiction had also caused you your marriage. It is sad to see someone like you who is still quite young, at the age of 38. However, being a drug addict and committing the present offence to support your vice habit, although it is understandable, but I am afraid not mitigation.
You committed the present offence while you were on court bail for two fraud matters. In particular, in February 2023, your bail in the District Court was extended. You have already indicated to the court on that occasion that you are going to plead guilty to the two fraud charges that you are facing. So it is when you are waiting for the sentence. While you were waiting for the sentence to be passed on you on those two fraud matters, you, in the same month, committed the present offence.
For the matter before me, it involved two drugs. The cocaine is of negligible quantity. In the circumstances, I will adopt the individual approach, rather than a combined approach, though two drugs are involved.
In Tam Yi Chun, for 10 to 70 grammes of ‘Ice’, one is looking at the range of sentence of 7 to 11 years. Though the four packets of ‘Ice’ were packed in such a way, suggesting readily divided for supplying to others, I give you the benefit of the doubt by treating you as a mere courier in the absence of any evidence of actual trafficking. I will therefore treat you, or put you, in the lowest end of the scale of culpability.
In view of the presence of cocaine, though of negligible quantity, the offence is aggravated. In the circumstances, I adopt an initial starting point of 7 years and 6 months.
There are aggravating features in this case. The first is your record. You have one similar in 2010. After your release from prison on that occasion, you continued to abuse
with drugs. Secondly, you committed the present offence while you were on bail for other matters and awaiting for sentence.
For these aggravating factors, the initial starting point which I have adopted is enhanced by 1½ years. So the starting point I adopted is one of 9 years’ imprisonment.
Other than your plea of guilty, I cannot see any other mitigating factors. I will give you one-third discount for your plea.
So, at the end of the day, for the count that you have pleaded guilty to, I sentence you to a term of imprisonment for 6 years.