HKSAR v. Mlele Anna Mohamed

HCCC 280/2017

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 280 OF 2017

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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 before me to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The offence took place on the 14th day of December 2016. It involved 858 grammes of a solid containing 668 grammes of cocaine.

On the day in question, the defendant arrived at Hong Kong by flight. She was intercepted during customs clearance. Though nothing illegal was found in the defendant’s personal belongings, customs officers suspected internal concealment. The defendant was escorted to the North Lantau Hospital for X-ray which revealed foreign objects in her body. Arrested and cautioned in English, the defendant remained silent.

She was then transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further detention and observation. From 15 to 21 December 2016, the defendant discharged a total of 75 packets of suspected cocaine in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The packets were subsequently examined and confirmed to contain 858 grammes of a solid containing 668 grammes of cocaine.

In a cautioned interview conducted in the custodial ward of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the defendant told the police through a Swahili interpreter that:

(a) She was a merchant in Tanzania selling clothes and handbags. On her way to Kenya to buy goods, a female told her over the phone that there was good business in Guinea in trading precious stones. She acquainted with that female friend in 2010 as they both sold clothes.

(b) A man in Guinea sent an air ticket to the defendant. The defendant took the flight to Guinea. In Guinea, she was picked up by the man and brought to a hotel where the man asked the defendant to swallow the drugs. She initially refused but the man did not provide her with food or water or a flight ticket to go back to Tanzania. That said, the man did not guard or hurt her.

(c) The defendant did not call the police or go out to buy food and drinks because people in Guinea spoke French and she did not know the place.

(d) Finally, the defendant swallowed 50 to 60 packets of drugs but she did not know what kind of drugs. The man then bought her a flight ticket to Hong Kong. The man told her someone would pick her up upon her arrival at the Hong Kong International Airport.

(e) The defendant had never received any payment but she was told by the man that she would receive US$7,000 after she was picked up in Hong Kong.

(f) She came to Hong Kong for business to buy clothes and handbags to sell in Tanzania.

(g) Customs officers found three contacts in her mobile phone that were related to this case.

Prior to the present trip, the defendant had been to Guinea twice in 2016, namely, 8 to 16 November 2016 and 9 to 13 December 2016.

The present trip was the defendant’s seventh arrival at Hong Kong since January 2014.

As in December 2016, the retail value of the cocaine in Hong Kong was estimated to be $876,018.

The defendant admits that at the time of the offence, she was unlawfully trafficking in the cocaine.

The antecedents statement of the defendant says that she is now 40-year-old. She was born in Tanzania. The defendant is single but she has two daughters aged 2 and 8. She had received education up to Form 2 level in Tanzania. She has a businesswoman selling clothes and handbags in Tanzania.

Mr Cheung in mitigation submits that the defendant is now 40-years-old. She has a clear record in Hong Kong and back in Tanzania. As stated in the antecedents statement of the defendant, she sold clothes and handbags in Tanzania. She has to take care of the two children a disabled brother. In the present case, the defendant was lured to traffic in the drugs in question but she had not received any monetary reward yet. Since the defendant arrest, she confessed to the authority and she pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity in the lower court.

Given the quantity of the cocaine in question and apply the tariff as set down Lau Tak Ming and Abdallah, Mr Cheung submits a tariff of about 20½ years’ imprisonment is appropriate. Mr Cheung reckons that there is an international element in the present case which calls for an enhancement of the sentence. According to the case Chung Ping Kun, Mr Cheung submits that a year or slightly more than a year enhancement is appropriate in the present case. Mr Cheung submits that the defendant pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity and she is entitled to the full one-third reduction for her guilty plea.

Mr Cheung submits a letter from Father John Wotherspoon dated 24 October 2017. In the letter, Father John confirms that the defendant participated in his campaign to combat trafficking in dangerous drugs. Since her arrest, the defendant has posted three letters in a website of Father John to warn people back in Tanzania not to bring drugs to Hong Kong. Father John states in the letter that there has been a decrease in the drugs coming from Africa to Hong Kong. Mr Cheung asked me to take into account the efforts made by the defendant in publishing her experience and helped in warning people not to traffic in drugs.

In sentencing the defendant, I have borne in mind the quantity of the drugs and nature of the drugs involved in this case. This case concerned 668 grammes of cocaine. I have borne in mind the facts of the case and all the matters urged on the defendant’s behalf by Mr Cheung. I accept that the defendant’s effort to participate in Father John’s campaign to combat drugs trafficking should be recognised by the court and the courts recognition of the defendant’s effort in Father John’s campaign should be reflected in the sentence that she is going to receive. Given the efforts made by the defendant, I accept the defendant is a person of positive good character.

Given the quantity of drugs involved in this case, ie, 668 grammes of cocaine, I shall adopt a primary starting point of 20 years’ imprisonment after trial. The international element in this case, in my judgment, calls for enhancement of 1 year’s imprisonment. That would bring the starting point up to 21 years’ imprisonment.

The defendant pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity. She should be given one-third reduction for her guilty plea. That would bring the sentence down to 14 years’ imprisonment. Given the effort made by the defendant, ie, the participation of the defendant in Father John’s campaign to combat drugs trafficking. I am prepared to give the defendant an additional reduction of 8 months’ imprisonment. That would bring the sentence down to 13 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.

For the reasons given, the sentence I shall impose is one of 13 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.