COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 998 grammes of a solid containing 841 grammes of cocaine.
As the facts reveal, the defendant travelled to Hong Kong from London and upon landing, his luggage was searched and the drugs were found inside a hard cover book and also in a bottle of shower gel. He was subsequently cautioned and he asserted that he had been given the book and the bottle when he arrived in London. His flight to London and then to Hong Kong were arranged by someone called Dimitrij. He then was supposed to bring the items to Hong Kong, check into a hotel, and wait for someone to pick up the drugs.
He said he was single and was a warehouse worker earning about 800 euro monthly in Latvia. He said he was offered a monetary reward of 4,000 euro for the successful delivery of the drugs. And he said that he had planned to return to Latvia after the delivery.
The drugs were examined by the government chemist and the amount of the drugs which is in the charge were found in both in the book and the shower gel.
The estimated street value of all the cocaine seized was in the region of about $990,000.
As far as the defendant is concerned, he has a clear record in Hong Kong and he is aged 32 now. Mr Chiu has very diligently set out his background. He said he had a girlfriend in Latvia and also she had a son and they were living together prior to his trip to Hong Kong. And it is his assertion that he has a good character in Latvia. Now, the reason that he committed this crime was in order to earn quick money and that he was remorseful and he was really a courier of the drugs. I have no doubt that the defendant is remorseful. He has pleaded guilty. So he is entitled to the one-third discount.
The other matter I have to think about is the fact that he was importing the drugs into Hong Kong, which is the international element and which the court has a duty to enhance the sentence because of that to deter others from doing the same.
As Mr Chiu correctly pointed out, the court has a discretion as to how much enhancement should be made. I would, in the circumstances, consider that an enhancement in this case would be in the region of 8 to 12 months’ imprisonment.
Mr Chiu has also correctly pointed out that the sentencing guideline for trafficking in cocaine is now enshrined in the case of HKSAR v Huang Ruifang (No. 3) in 2025. And for trafficking of between 500 and 1,500 grammes of cocaine, the Court of Appeal has set down that 16 to 20 years’ imprisonment is merited. And therefore in this case, the amount being 841 grammes would be in the region of 17 years 4 months. I will adopt that and I will enhance the sentence by 8 months so bringing the total to 18 years.
And because of his guilty plea, he is entitled to one-third off, which lowers the sentence to one of 12 years’ imprisonment.
So the defendant will go to prison for 12 years. Thank you.