HKSAR v. Okorie Nwabueze Joseph

HCCC 482/2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 482 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 pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134.

The defendant arrived at Hong Kong from Nigeria via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His baggage was checked which revealed nil results. He was taken to the hospital and eventually he excreted a total of 86 pellets of drugs. The drugs on a later analysis were found to be 1.36 kilogrammes of a solid containing 567 grammes of cocaine. The defendant remained silent upon caution.

The retail value of the drugs at the time of seizure was in the region of HK$1.55 million.

The defendant now admits that he knowingly possessed the drugs for trafficking. He is now aged 41. He has a clear record.

By way of mitigation I was told that he was born in Nigeria and his parents are both farmers. Married, with three children aged 1-year-and-4-months, 6 and 8. By way of mitigation I am told that the defendant was a trader but lost his business. He encountered financial difficulties and was lured into delivering the drugs to Hong Kong for a reward of US$5,000, and that since his arrest his wife and children had been on the verge of homelessness due to arrears of rent. I am asked to take into account his early plea of guilty and that he had placed himself and his own life at risk by swallowing the pellets, and that his three very young children will have to do without their father for a long time.

In sentencing the defendant, I have taken into account the nature of the offence, the nature and quantity of the drugs involved, the sentencing authorities and tariffs and mitigation forwarded.

For trafficking in cocaine weighing above 400 to 600 grammes, the starting point between 15 to 20 years is to be adopted. I have been helpfully referred to the case of HKSAR v Aguma Dennis CACC 185/2015. The total narcotics involved there was 542.76 grammes. The starting point of 18½ years and an enhancement of 1 year was approved of by the Court of Appeal.

Similarly, in the present case, I adopt 18½ years as a starting point for the present narcotics and enhance that by 1 year to reflect the international element, thus, a sentence of 19½ years after trial. He is entitled to be given the full one-third discount for his plea of guilty which is the greatest mitigating factor in the present case, and is sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment.