HKSAR v. Duque Rodriguez Gustavo Adolfo

HCCC 33/2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 33 OF 2017

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

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COURT:

You have pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in 53.73 grammes of cocaine, contrary to sections 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, before the Eastern Magistracy on 6 February 2017.

The Summary of Facts which formed the basis of your plea was read out to you today and you agreed it and as such, you are formally convicted upon that plea.

You are a Columbian citizen and arrived in Hong Kong on 30 March 2016. The Summary of Facts refers to an incident on 22 April 2016 when you were apprehended having just come out of a flat in 17 Moon Street in Wan Chai for which you had a key and the passcode and which you say you shared with a man that was arrested with you at that time.

You were found to have eight red packets in all in your trouser pockets and that led to a further search of the address and more drugs were found. They were found in red packets, they were found in plastic resealable bags, as well as some electronic scales and other, as yet, empty red packets and resealable bags. You also had a considerable amount of money in the TV cabinet in the flat, some $32,370, mostly in $500 notes.

The value of the drugs recovered that day amounted to $183,817, although I do note the purity level of the drugs was quite low.

You are not a simple drug mule used to facilitate the importation of drugs. You are a 36-year-old adult and you came here to Hong Kong and thereafter, you knowingly were complicit in trafficking at street level in Wan Chai where there are very many young people, and you would know that because you lived there.

You say you fell into bad company but how was it that you came to be here in the first place and how did you fund that journey if you were a construction worker and if you were an addict in Columbia? You say you were trafficking as a result of the desire to feed that habit here in Hong Kong, but that is absolutely no mitigation before this court. You harmed yourself and you harmed others by taking and distributing drugs.

Although you were still within your visa limit, it is interesting to note that you were arrested in the company of an over-stayer who is also a Columbian and staying in the Wan Chai flat with you. That flat, having seen the photographs, would have been expensive to rent and no doubt you were receiving your accommodation free as you appeared to have absolutely no income, other, that is, than trafficking in drugs.

You said nothing on arrest, as is your right, and caution and nothing in video interview, so there is little that this court can go on or rely upon to assess what role in fact you did have other than which Mr Beel has tried to advance on your behalf.

The sentencing guidelines in Hong Kong for trafficking in cocaine, as you will have been told by Mr Beel, can be found in HKSAR v Lau Tak Ming [1990] HKLR 370, and for trafficking in between 50 and 200 grammes, the range of sentencing after trial is between 8 and 12 years. For 53.73 grammes, therefore, the starting point after trial would be just over 8 years’ imprisonment, and as Mr Beel has suggested, I will make a starting point of 8 years.

You will of course receive a one-third discount for your plea at the earliest opportunity. That is to your credit. But unfortunately, there is no other mitigation before the court which can affect the sentence which I must pass.

You will therefore go to prison for 5 years and 4 months.