COURT: Mr Chan, you have pleaded guilty to a count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The charge reads on 17 October 2020, at the airport, you unlawfully trafficked in a dangerous drug, namely, 4.58 litres of a liquid containing 2,493 grammes of cocaine.
The further amended Summary of Facts disclosed that on 17 October 2020, you arrived at the airport from Istanbul, Turkey. At about 3.10 in the afternoon, you passed the green channel of customs arrival hall with your suitcase and you were intercepted by customs officers who directed you for a baggage examination.
You admitted the baggage belongs to you and you unlocked the suitcase for their examination. Customs and Excise officers found three bottles of purported red wine. The contents were examined and it was confirmed that the three bottles contained a total of 4.58 litres of a liquid containing 2,493 grammes of cocaine.
Under caution, you claimed that the wine were purchased from a supermarket for about $300 per bottle. Upon further preliminary enquiries by Customs and Excise, you said that a friend of yours asked you to buy the red wine from Turkey.
You agreed to participate in a controlled delivery, however, Customs and Excise officers tried to contact the person who allegedly had instructed you to buy the red wine but in vain. At the end of the day, no controlled delivery was conducted.
Immigration record was checked and it transpired that you departed Hong Kong on 6 October 2020. Upon further investigation by Customs and Excise, it was found that a person surnamed “Chan” purchased your roundtrip ticket to Turkey. You now admit that at the material time, you knowingly imported drugs in Hong Kong.
In mitigation, it was urged upon you, first of all, that you had a clear record and it was because of financial difficulty that you commit the present offence. Before this occasion, you worked as a wedding planner but because of the pandemic, your income dropped.
You are now 28 years of age. It had been said by the Court of Appeal on many occasions, personal circumstances such as what had been advanced in your case, does not carry much mitigation weight.
For the quantity of cocaine in your case, we are looking at the sentencing range from 23 to 26 years. From the facts admitted by you, no doubt you are a courier. You were being employed to bring in the drugs into Hong Kong.
The fact that you imported these drugs into Hong Kong is a matter which I should take into account in assessing the culpability. I have to decide your role and the fact that you imported these drugs into Hong Kong and decide within the bracket of 23 to 26 years, what should be the starting point.
You were born in Hong Kong, you should know Hong Kong treats drug trafficking as a very serious offence. You should know that very severe punishments would be imposed on people who imported drugs into Hong Kong. Despite that you are only a courier, I, in the circumstances of this case, think the appropriate starting point will be one of 25½ years.
There are no other aggravating factors, as I said, the importation into Hong Kong had already been taken into consideration in deciding the culpability. I should make it clear that I had ignored in the original Summary of Facts the part that talks about or suggesting that you were acting in concert with another person in bringing drugs into Hong Kong. Hence, there is no other aggravating factor.
So far as mitigating factors are concerned, as I said, the fact that it is financial difficulty, your clear record does not count too much towards mitigation. You had pleaded guilty at the earliest available opportunity, I will give you full credit, one-third.
So the sentence I pass on you at the end of the day is one of 17 years.