COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug before a Magistrate on 5 December 2024. It is alleged that on 11th day of November 2023, at the Hong Kong International Airport, she unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug containing 820 grammes of cocaine narcotic.
According to the Summary of Facts to which she agreed, at around 5.51 pm on 11 November 2023 she arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Istanbul, Turkey. As she was walking through the green channel of Customs Entrance Hall, she was intercepted by the Customs officers.
Medical examination confirmed that there were foreign objects hidden in her body cavity and she was escorted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. In the hospital, she discharged a total of 91 pellets which contained 91 packets containing 968 grammes of a solid containing 820 grammes of cocaine.
Upon her arrest, she was interviewed on 13 November 2023 with the assistance of a Spanish interpreter in the Queen
Elizabeth Hospital. She stated under caution that she knew that the pellets she had swallowed contained cocaine. She swallowed the pellets because she needed the money for father’s heart surgery. She would receive a reward of US$7,000 after she delivered the pellets successfully. She swallowed the pellets in Sao Paulo, Brazil and she travelled alone to Hong Kong. She was arranged to discharge the pellets in a hotel room and then put the pellets in a suitcase. Some unknown person would retrieve the suitcase from her.
The average retail price of the cocaine found in her body was about HK$969,936.
She now admits and accepts that at the material time, she unlawfully trafficked in the cocaine found in her body by importing the cocaine into Hong Kong, knowing that the objects hidden in her body were cocaine.
The defendant is a Paraguayan female and she is now 23 years of age. She was 21 years old at the time of the offence. She has no criminal conviction in Hong Kong. She is single and she has received high school education.
In mitigation, counsel Ms Cherry Hui informed me that she was adopted by her parents and she has two brothers and one sister. Her father had a heart condition and required to receive surgery, and she came here because she needed the money to care for her father. Unfortunately her father passed away in September 2024 after she was arrested in Hong Kong.
Counsel informed me that the defendant has pre-existing Thyroid disease that required to take medication regularly. After school, she worked full-time as an apparel saleswoman and also as a part-time waitress at night with a monthly earning of approximately US$500.
A customer who purchased clothes from her told her that she knew of someone who required somebody to make a trip for a reward of US$7,000. The defendant committed the current offence with the intention of acquiring funds to assist in covering her father’s medical expenses.
Counsel submitted that the defendant has a clear record in Hong Kong and she herself is not a drug addict. She is now deeply remorseful and she asks this court to give her a chance.
Counsel also submitted a mitigation letter prepared
by the defendant herself. In that letter, the defendant expressed her regret about her involvement in trafficking dangerous drug. She told this court about her father’s medical condition, that he was in need of a very delicate surgery. As a result she committed the offence and accepted this trip out of necessity.
She said that she did not act out of a desire for luxuries or pleasures. She mentioned that after her arrest her family had practically turned their backs on her, and she asked for leniency from this court. The defendant also promised that she would not commit any further crimes in the future.
Counsel also urged me to take into account the fact that the defendant’s role was simply one of a courier, however, counsel rightly accepted that her role was aggravated by the international element as the defendant brought dangerous drug into Hong Kong from other countries. Counsel asked this court to take into account her early plea of guilty that should be reflected by a one-third discount.
Counsel submitted that the defendant was only 21 years old at the time of the offence and she has no criminal record. She urged this court to adopt a lower starting point using the range of the tariffs and to consider her sentence in a fair, just and balanced manner.
In sentencing the defendant I do bear in mind the approach set out by the Court of Appeal in the case of HKSAR v Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HKLRD 290 as modified by the case of HKSAR v Lee Ming Ho [2024] 1 HKLRD 1186. According to the latest guideline case of HKSAR v Huang Ruifang [2025] HKCA 234 which is a guideline case for trafficking in cocaine, the tariff for trafficking in 500 to 1,500 grammes of cocaine narcotic is 16 to 20 years’ imprisonment.
In this case the drug involved is 820 grammes of cocaine narcotic. So arithmetically the starting point after trial should be one of 17 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.
I then come to the role and culpability of the defendant. I accept that she was simply a courier bringing the drug into Hong Kong from Brazil. However, I do bear in mind that her role and culpability was aggravated by the international element because she imported the cocaine into Hong Kong. So the notional starting point after trial, after taking into account this aggravating feature, is one of 18 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. That is, 18½ years.
The defendant pleaded guilty at an early stage and she is entitled to the full one-third discount. There being no other valid mitigating feature, I would sentence her to 12 years and 4 months’ imprisonment for the present offence.