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HCCC 247/2017
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 247 OF 2017
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| Before: |
Hon D’Almada Remedios J |
| Date: |
20 October 2017 at 10.47 am |
| Present: |
Ms Lilly Wong, SPP (Ag) of the Department of Justice,
for HKSAR |
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Mr Trevor Beel, instructed by John M Pickavant & Co,
assigned by DLA, for the accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT:
Defendant, on 31 July 2017, you pleaded guilty at the Eastern Magistrates Court to a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. At a result of your plea of guilty, you have been committed to the Court of First Instance for sentence.
You admitted that on 23 October 2016, at the Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau Island, you unlawfully trafficked in 1.46 kilogrammes of a solid containing 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine.
On 23 October, you arrived in Hong Kong on flight from Nairobi, Kenya. Just before 4 pm that day, you were intercepted by at the Customs Arrival Hall at the airport. You were sent to a hospital as internal concealment of drugs was suspected. An examination at the hospital confirmed the presence of foreign objects in your body. Subsequently, at the hospital, you discharged a total of 93 packets containing the drugs as stated in the charge.
The dangerous drugs seized has an estimated retail value of HK$1,527,160 in October 2016.
When you entered Hong Kong, found in your possession was US$1,000, 15,000 Tanzanian shillings and 1,850 Kenya shillings.
Defendant, you are a Tanzanian citizen and are now 54 years of age. You have a clear record in Hong Kong and you are married with four children ranging in age from 32 to 8 years old. You were living with your family in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Whilst there, you had a small business of selling clothes and shoes.
Mr Trevor Beel, your counsel, has explained that you became involved in this offence of trafficking quite simply because of greed. You were offered a reward of tremendous sum of US$20,000 if you had taken these drugs successfully to Hong Kong. Mr Beel has informed me that this case falls squarely within the case of Abdallah and its guideline set down for trafficking in cocaine and there are no exceptional circumstances which exists for you to receive a lower sentence. The strongest mitigating factor in your case and only mitigating factor is your early plea of guilty at the committal proceedings.
Defendant, you were trafficking in 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine and following the guidelines as lay down in HKSAR v Abdallah, this falls within the bracket of trafficking 1,200 to 4,000 grammes of which a starting point after trial would warrant a term of imprisonment of 23 to 26 years. Defendant, had you been convicted after trial, an appropriate starting point for this quantity of drugs would be 23 years’ imprisonment.
In this case, you were importing the drugs into Hong Kong. As also held in Abdallah, this is an aggravating factor, calling for enhancement of the starting point. As you were trafficking in more than 1 kilogramme, the appropriate term in enhancing your sentence is one of 2 years’ imprisonment. The starting point therefore had you been convicted after trial would have been one of 25 years’ imprisonment. Given your early plea of guilty at the first opportunity. You are warranted a discount of one-third from that term.
In the circumstances, you should be sentenced to 16 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.
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