COURT: Mr Ho, please stand up. Mr Ho, you pleaded guilty on 11 November of last year before the Eastern Magistracy of one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, in that at that time, you accepted that you unlawfully trafficked in a 1,826 grammes of ketamine on 30 March 2016, at Shek Po Road in Tin Shui Wai.
The Summary of Facts has been read out, and you’ve agreed them today, and you were therefore formally convicted upon your own plea.
You are 28 years of age at the time of this offending, and you were eventually stopped by the police, having tried to evade arrest, as you have been carrying a sling bag containing a paper box and a bag inside of which was several clear plastic bags of ketamine. You discarded that sling bag when the police first asked you to stop, but you didn’t stop, did you? And you were pursued by two police officers on foot, who gave chase but they lost you. Having thought to disguise yourself, you then returned to recover the bag, and it was at that point that you were apprehended.
The clear plastic bags had significant amounts of ketamine inside them. They were not divided up into very small packets for ultimate consumption.
You were clearly involved in a commercial operation. As is your right, you said nothing on caution or on interview, but your DNA was found on the paper box or on one of the plastic bags of ketamine, and ketamine was discovered on your hands and fingernails, so you very sensibly pleaded guilty to this offence.
The value of the ketamine that was found upon you in March of last year was $406,912, that is a significant amount of money, especially when you consider that you say you were to be paid just $2,000.
Mr Ho, I note that you have only one matter recorded against you and it is irrelevant, I am on paragraph 5. I note that you only have an education up to Form 3, and that although you have been employed as a warehouse worker, you were not employed at the time of the arrest. Mr Omar tells me on your behalf that you’ve lost your job and that’s why you decided to traffic in drugs. I also note that you are not married with any dependent and that you live with your mother and brother in Tin Shui Wai.
The case of HKSAR v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1 provides a sentencing guideline for trafficking in ketamine of up to 1 kilogramme, at which point, sentencing is at the discretion of the court. I bear in mind that this authority suggests that the starting point for trafficking in up to a kilogramme of ketamine after trial is 14 years. You have admitted to trafficking in almost double that amount, and as Mr Omar mentioned, HKSAR v Sin Chung Kin [2013] 1 HKLRD 627 has suggested that the starting point for trafficking in 2 kilogrammes should be in the order of 18 years. That would suggest that for you, the starting point after trial would have been 17 years and 3 months.
Under HKSAR v Mykidu Abdulkarim [2016] 5 HKLRD, as you have pleaded guilty at committal at the first opportunity, you are entitled to a full one-third discount from the starting point after trial.
I had taken into consideration what has been said by Mr Omar on your behalf, but as he and I have no doubt you accept, there is little mitigation that could have moved the court away from the guideline sentencing. Accordingly, I sentence you to 11 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.