HKSAR v. Wong Yu Wo

HCCC 148/2018

[2018] HKCFI 2440

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 148 OF 2018

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

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COURT:

Mr Wong, you have pleaded guilty today to one count of trafficking in 104 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, and you are formally convicted upon that plea.

The street value of what you had on you in October of 2017 was $417,417.

You were intercepted at the Lo Wu Boundary Border Control Point on 13 October of last year with two plastic bags wrapped around your waist which contained the ‘Ice’. Upon arrest you said that Ah Chik had just asked you to carry the drugs over the border and you were to be paid $9,000 for that.

Ms Yip, on your behalf, says that this was a spur of the moment offence, for you were at the border to be available to carry parallel goods for a reward for which you could make as much as $900 on a good day. But I feel that it is significant on the evidence that you had a considerable amount of money on you at that time in both Hong Kong dollars and RMB, as well as two mobile phones.

Your antecedents statement shows you are 43 years of age and resident in mainland China living in Shenzhen, I now know with your girlfriend. You had previously been employed as a waiter but now you say you make the occasional money from running parallel goods.

You were educated in Hong Kong up to Secondary 1 level, but you are now divorced although you have a son.

You have a criminal record going back to 1992, some 26 years ago when you would have been just 17 years of age. Those were unrelated offences but I note you received probation and Training Centre Orders as well as Drug Addiction Treatment Centre Order.

In 2012, you received a period of imprisonment of 7 years for trafficking in dangerous drugs from this court and you were discharged from prison on 21 November 2015. It would appear that you managed not to get caught again for almost two years. In part that may be because you were seeking to re‑establish your relationship with your son. You say that you are not a drug addict but that you took drugs from time to time and you suggested you were taking about 1 gram every two days but you have confirmed to this court that you were not going to consume this ‘Ice’. You were simply importing it for onward sale by someone else.

The relevant sentencing guideline for the offence of trafficking in ‘Ice’ in October 2017 is HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2 HKLRD 437. For trafficking between 600 grammes and 1,200 grammes of ‘Ice’ the sentencing range is between 20 and 23 years. So for trafficking in 965 grammes of ‘Ice’ I consider an appropriate starting point, after trial, in all the circumstances of this case to be 21 years and 9 months. There is also the aggravating feature of the importation for which I intend to enhance your sentence by 2 years, which makes a total of 23 years and 9 months.

You will, of course, Mr Wong, receive a one-third discount for your plea at the earliest opportunity and you will go to prison for 15 years and 10 months.