HKSAR v. Matei Msafiri Damas

HCCC 304/2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 304 OF 2015

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT: Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section (4)(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.

You have admitted that on 18 February 2015 at the Hong Kong International Airport you unlawfully trafficked in 1.65 kilogrammes of a solid containing 913 grammes of cocaine.

On the day in question you arrived on a flight from Addis Ababa. Your baggage and your person was searched but nothing was found. You were suspected to have an internal body concealment and thus you were sent to the North Lantau Hospital for an examination. It was confirmed that there were foreign objects concealed in your body cavity.

You were then arrested and cautioned, You stated that you had swallowed 105 pills and they were inside your body. After you had expelled them, you were expected to be paid US$8,000. Eventually you did discharge the total of 105 packets and those packets contained the drugs as mentioned in the charge.

The estimated retail value of these drugs on that date was $1,631,850.

You pleaded guilty before the magistrate, and I confirmed your plea with you. You have been committed to the Court of First Instance for sentence.

Mr Edward Laskey, you counsel, has mitigated fully and thoroughly on your behalf.

You are aged 28 and are from Tanzania. You have a clear record. This is, therefore, your first time ever before the courts. You have attained primary school education. You are married and have a daughter aged 7.

Mr Laskey informs me that you are a businessman and were importing goods from China to Tanzania. You commenced your business in 2013. However, that business failed. You made efforts to commence it again, and for the second occasion it failed as a result of one of your partners stealing money.

Having tried and failed twice, you succumbed to the temptation to make easy money. You fell prey to the temptation to traffic in drugs.

Quite properly, Mr Laskey has referred me to the tariff case of Abdallah in sentencing for trafficking in the drug cocaine. The amount that you were trafficking in was 913 grammes of cocaine, and under the tariff that is in the category of between 600 and 1,200 grammes it attracts a sentence of between 20 and 23 years’ imprisonment after trial.

Defendant, your strongest mitigating factor is your early plea of guilty, and you will of course get the customary one‑third discount.

Defendant, taking into account the quantity of drugs and the tariff guidelines, had you been convicted after trial I would have imposed a sentence of 21 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.

There was an international element involved which calls for an enhancement of that starting point as you were bringing the drugs into Hong Kong, and following the case of Chung Ping Kun CACC 85/2014, the enhancement factor of between 500 and 1,000 grammes calls for an enhancement of between 1 and 2 years’ imprisonment.

For the international element, I enhance your sentence by a further 21 months’ imprisonment. That would make a total of 279 months. Giving you the full one-third discount, you are sentenced to 15 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. That would make the sentencing point of 23 years and 3 months.