HKSAR v. Benites Cerna Anibal Ronal

HCCC 360/2016

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 360 OF 2016

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

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COURT:

Defendant, you have been found guilty by the jury after trial of the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug on 24 December 2015 at the Hong Kong International Airport. You have been found guilty of unlawful trafficking in 1.14 kilogrammes of a liquid containing 773 grammes of the dangerous drug cocaine.

On 24 December 2015, you arrived in Hong Kong on a flight from Abu Dhabi which originated from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Concealed inside your body were 41 packets of the dangerous drug cocaine, the amount of which I have just mentioned in the charge. Those packets were then excreted in Hong Kong.

Your counsel, Mr Percy, has mitigated on your behalf. I have heard that you are a Peruvian who is now aged 42. You have been a musician or singer, that is your profession. You have a clear criminal record in both Hong Kong and Peru. You lived with your mother in Peru, two sisters and a brother aged 48. Your income in Peru was some US$400 a month.

It is clear from the jury’s finding of fact that you came to Hong Kong knowing you had drugs in your body and you did this willingly. From the record of interview, it is clear that you brought these drugs into Hong Kong as you were to be paid a sum of money. You were initially paid US$1,000 and you were to be paid $5,000 upon successful transfer of these drugs upon your excretion.

As I am sure that you have been informed by your counsel, trafficking in dangerous drugs is a very, very serious offence. The guidelines in the Hong Kong courts have been very clear and Mr Percy, your counsel, was proper and correct to refer to the case of HKSAR v Abdallah. In that case, the Court of Appeal laid down guidelines in sentencing traffickers in cocaine. The guideline there was that if you trafficked between an amount of 600 and 1,200 grammes, a starting point after trial would be one between 20 and 23 years’ imprisonment. For the amount of 773 grammes of cocaine, the correct starting point, in my view, is one of 20 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.

As stated in Abdallah, there is an aggravating factor in this case to enhance that starting point as you had brought these drugs into Hong Kong from abroad, that being an international element. In those circumstances, I enhance your sentence by 2 years’ imprisonment.

The total term which you shall serve shall therefore be 22 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.