HKSAR v. Okafor Charles Chukwuemeka

HCCC 280/2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 280 OF 2015

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

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COURT: The defendant, who has Nigerian nationality and is aged 50, was intercepted after arriving on a flight from Addis Ababa on 24 December 2014. His luggage was searched but nothing was found. He later admitted that he had swallowed 78 pellets of cocaine and, in due course, this was confirmed.

The plastic wrappings of those pellets contained a total of 1.53 kilogrammes of a mixture which contained, in narcotic weight, some 761 grammes of cocaine. That quantity of drugs is worth $1,464,210 at street prices.

The defendant told the police that his reward would be, in due course, US$6,000. Apparently, he has not yet been paid anything. The defendant would have been well aware of the serious offence he was committing when he brought such a large quantity of drugs into Hong Kong. As Mr Poots has realistically and rightly said, the defendant took a risk both with his own life and with his liberty and it is clear that his gamble has failed.

The sentencing guidelines in HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas [2009] 2 HKC 197 at 212 provide that for between 600 and 1,200 grammes of cocaine, a sentence after trial, subject to enhancement, should be between 20 and 23 years’ imprisonment.

In this case, for 761 grammes, I consider a starting point of 20 years and 9 months’ imprisonment to be appropriate.

However, the matter does not end there. In this case there is an international element involved. This is a factor which increases the gravity of the offence and calls for enhancement. I propose to enhance the sentence by a year.

Mr Okafor, would you stand, please. You have, very sensibly, pleaded guilty to the charge and, in doing so, you have been well advised. If you had been convicted after a trial, your sentence would have been 21 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.

As it is, you deserve the full credit for your plea, so your sentence is reduced to 14 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.