CRIMINAL CASE NO. 149 OF 2011
COURT: The defendant pleads guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug involving 410 grammes of heroin hydrochloride.
At about 3 pm on 31 December, year 2010, the defendant was refused entry by the Hong Kong Immigration Department at the airport.
She was examined by a Customs officer for Customs clearance. She was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further examination, as there was suspicion that she had concealed some drug inside her body.
Subsequently, the defendant excreted 85 pellets containing the drug as set out in the charge. She admitted that she swallowed the pellets in Malaysia and intended to take them to China for a reward of 10,000 rand.
The market price of this quantity of drug was about HK$490,000.
The defendant was born in South Africa in 1982. She is now 29 years old. She holds a South African passport. She has a clear record in Hong Kong. She was a hairdresser and also sold clothing before this offence.
She was introduced to a male by her friend while in Malaysia. She was told to take the drug to China. She had given her contact phone number to the Hong Kong Customs, who passed the number to the Malaysian authority. There is no result yet.
The sentencing tariff in HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming is applicable. For 410 grammes of heroin hydrochloride, the sentence should be 15 to 20 years’ imprisonment.
The heroin was taken from Malaysia via Hong Kong to China. The starting point should be enhanced to reflect this aggravating factor.
Having considered the amount of heroin hydrochloride, her background and the mitigation, I take 15 years and 3 months as the starting point. I add 6 months to reflect the international element in this case. The final starting point is 15 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.
I deduct 5 years and 3 months for her plea. I do not think she is entitled to any further reduction for her limited assistance.
I now sentence the defendant to 10 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.