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HCCC 477/2012
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 477 OF 2012
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HKSAR |
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v. |
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SOLIZ AGUILERA Mario Erwin |
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| Date: |
28 May 2013 at 10.05 am |
| Present: |
Mr Peter John Power, SADPP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR |
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Mr Nicholas E W Adams, instructed by Krishnan & Tsang, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, 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, you have pleaded guilty to a single count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, Laws of Hong Kong, the particulars being that you, on 29 June of last year, at Chek Lap Kok International Airport, unlawfully trafficked in 1,225.45 grammes of a liquid containing 648.03 grammes of cocaine.
The Summary of Facts which you have agreed are straightforward and indicate quite simply that when you arrived in Hong Kong from Sao Paulo via Dubai at Hong Kong International Airport, you were intercepted at the transfer area. Nothing was found in your baggage but internal concealment was suspected so you were transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where you subsequently discharged a total of 40 packets containing the drugs being the subject matter of the charge. These drugs have an estimated retail value of some HK$1.2 million.
You are 44 years of age, a Bolivian national, which is where you live with your cohabitant and children.
The background to this matter is all too familiar to these courts. You evidently lost your job and started to take up casual employment. You could not make ends meet resulting in you borrowing a large amount of money which was impossible for you to repay. You agreed, therefore, to carry these drugs here for onward transmission to Shenzhen for US$6,000 as a way of paying back your debts.
The starting point for offences of this nature can be found in the case of HKSAR v Abdallah CACC No 304/2008 and for amounts of narcotic of this category, falling between 600 to 1,200 grammes after trial, it indicates a starting point of 20 to 23 years’ imprisonment. The amount that you carried, 648.03 grammes, falls very close to the bottom end of that scale and accordingly I will adopt 20 years as my starting point.
There is clearly an international element here as you brought these drugs into Hong Kong for onward transmission to Shenzhen. The trend of using Hong Kong as a hub for international drug trafficking is of serious concern to the authorities here in Hong Kong and one which will not be tolerated.
In order to take this aggravating feature into account, I will increase the starting point by 1 year, arriving at 21 years’ imprisonment. Your plea of guilty, which is the only mitigating feature here, entitles you to a full one-third discount in sentence.
Accordingly, you will be sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment.
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