COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 1,098.85 grammes of a solid containing 765.90 grammes of cocaine.
The facts are getting all too common in Hong Kong. The defendant arrived in Hong Kong holding a Tanzanian passport at our Chek Lap Kok Airport. He came from Johannesburg in South Africa, via Nairobi in Kenya.
Upon a search, there were 21 pellets of cocaine found in his suit jacket. Because the Customs officer suspected that there was internal concealment, he was escorted to the hospital and, upon a medical examination, it was confirmed that he had secreted some foreign objects in his body cavity. So between 21 June last year and 26 June, whilst in hospital, he discharged a total of 43 pellets of the drug. All the pellets were subsequently examined and found to contain the quantity as mentioned in the indictment.
The defendant was cautioned and, under caution, he did admit that the 21 pellets found on his person were cocaine. Subsequently, he was interviewed again but he refused to answer any questions.
The seized dangerous drugs had a retail value in Hong Kong of over HK$1 million.
The defendant, in Hong Kong, has a clear record and he is aged 27. I am told by Mr Pierce that he has some 20 siblings in Tanzania and that he committed this present offence because he was anxious to pay for his father’s medical treatment. But as Mr Pierce correctly recognised, this is not a mitigating factor. The only mitigating factor I can see in this case is the fact that the defendant has pleaded guilty.
The Court of Appeal has made it clear that for trafficking in over 600 grammes of cocaine, the suggested sentence would be between 20 to 23 years’ imprisonment after trial for trafficking in 600 to 1,200 grammes of cocaine. This was pointed out in the case of Abdallah [2009] 2 HKC 197. Therefore, for the present amount of drugs, which is 765.90 grammes of cocaine, it would merit a sentence of about 20 to 20½ years, after trial.
In this case, there is also the added aggravating factor of importation into Hong Kong, which is the international element.
Having considered the facts of the case and the background of the defendant, I would adopt a starting point of 20 years. I would add 1 year for the international element, thus giving a starting point of 21 years and deducting one-third, thus giving a sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment.
The defendant will go to prison for 14 years.