The defendant has pleaded guilty to trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 992.93 grammes of a powder containing 701.37 grammes of cocaine. The street value of the drugs is $957,184.52 Hong Kong currency.
On 13 July 2013, the defendant took a flight from Bogota Columbia to San Paolo, Brazil. And from there, on 18 July 2013, he took another flight to Frankfurt Germany and eventually arrived in Hong Kong on 20 July 2013.
At about 3.55 pm on that day the defendant having collected his luggage in the Customs Arrival Hall A at Hong Kong International Airport was requested by Customs officers to have his belongings examined by x-ray scanning.
It prompted the Customs officers to carry out a physical examination of his luggage. The officers searched his suitcase and inside it found a quantity of cocaine in 10 packets concealed in items of clothing.
The drugs were concealed in the inside lining of the two shoulder pads of five jackets. The officers retrieved two packets of cocaine from each jacket which were in compressed transparent plastic bags wrapped in carbon paper.
The defendant was arrested and cautioned. He was interviewed with the assistance of the Spanish Interpreter which was video recorded. He acknowledged the suitcase contained personal clothing and toiletries as well as the cocaine. He admitted he knew that there were two packets of cocaine placed inside each of the five jackets in his suitcase. He said he was promised US$6,000 as a reward upon the successful delivery of the cocaine.
The defendant is a Columbian national. He is 29 years of age, single with a five-year-old son. He completed Level 5 education in Columbia in 2000 and from 2013 he has been self-employed with a monthly income of US$600.
Mr Giles Surman, who appears on behalf of the defendant, submits in mitigation that the defendant is a person of clear record both here in Hong Kong and in Columbia; that he admitted the offence straight away and cooperated with the authorities, and that he was forced into acting as a courier for a criminal syndicate.
It is claimed on behalf of the defendant that he worked in a nightclub in Bogota where he came to know certain men who he described as “on the heavy side”. In casual conversation he informed them that he had a girlfriend in Hong Kong, and this prompted them to offer to buy him an air ticket to visit Hong Kong for which he was to deliver one kilogram of cocaine. It is claimed that he tried to get out of it, but was told that he would have to refund the cost of the ticket of US$7,000, and that they knew where his young son lived.
He talked it over with his cousin, but felt he could not get out of it. He realised that if he got caught in this part of the world he might be hung or sent to prison for a long time.
It is submitted that his thoughts turned to his son, and that is why he did the crime. It is a pity that his thoughts did not turn to the people he would have affected by bringing the drugs into Hong Kong.
I should point out that in his record of interview he did not mention the clam that he was forced to bring the drugs to Hong Kong.
He admitted under caution, which was also part of the Admitted Facts, that he was promised a reward of US$6,000 upon the successful delivery of the cocaine. He had the opportunity to go to the authorities in Columbia and during his journey to Hong Kong but he chose not to do so.
I do not consider that the matters advanced by Mr Surman on behalf of the defendant would entitle him to any further discount of his sentence.
As stated by the Court of Appeal in the authority submitted to me by Mr Surman of Mugala, sympathy alone for the personal circumstances of a defendant usually do not provide sufficient justification for reduction in sentence.
The court said:
“This is particularly so in respect of the offence of drug trafficking, where an offender’s personal circumstances usually play a secondary role to the need for a deterrent sentence.”
The defendant is clearly part of a larger criminal syndicate that has sought to bring drugs into Hong Kong.
The guideline case of Lau Tak Ming provides for a sentence of a term of imprisonment of 20 years and 6 months after trial for trafficking in 700 grammes of cocaine.
On the authority of Abbas and da Silva where there is an international element, as evidenced in this case by the importation of the drugs into Hong Kong and the circumstances by which it was done, a sentence is subject to enhancement to reflect this aggravating factor.
The defendant’s sentence will, therefore, be increased by one year.
Accordingly, I set a starting point for the sentence of 21 years and 6 months’ imprisonment, which will be reduced by one-third for the defendant’s plea of guilty. There being no other mitigation warranting any further reduction to the sentence, the defendant is sentenced to 14 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.