HKSAR v. Ahmed Hifni Abdirahman

HCCC 213/2018

[2018] HKCFI 2714

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 213 OF 2018

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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 at committal to one charge of trafficking in 1,484.45 grammes of a solid containing 1,227.64 grammes of cocaine. Today the defendant confirms his plea and his agreement to the Summary of Facts before me.

Very briefly stated, on 23 October 2017, the defendant was intercepted at Customs Arrival Hall of the Hong Kong International Airport after he had arrived from Zanzibar of Tanzania, via Doha. Customs Officers found the dangerous drug which was the subject matter of the charge concealed in the metal frames and wheels of the two suitcases which he was carrying.

The estimated street value of all the cocaine seized was HK$1,827,358.

He said he was offered US$500 for taking the two brief cases to Hong Kong. The defendant accepts and admits that at the material time, he possessed all the drugs seized for the purpose of trafficking.

Antecedent

The defendant, a holder of UK passport, is aged 28. He lived in the UK and got married in Zanzibar where his wife and family resides. By family, I mean he and his wife. He was a college graduate and worked in a car rental company. He has a clear record in Hong Kong. Today I am told by Mr Donald that the defendant’s wife was pregnant at the time of the defendant was arrested, and the defendant now has a daughter.

Starting Point

The sentencing tariff for trafficking in cocaine follows that of trafficking in heroin: Attorney General v Pedro Nel Rojas [1994] 1 HKC 342. The applicable tariff is the one laid down in R v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR 370, as amended by HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2 HKLRD 437. According to Abdallah, trafficking in 1,200 to 4,000 grammes of cocaine narcotic carries with it an imprisonment term of 23 to 26 years.

It is well‑established that the sentencing starting point for the offence of trafficking in the absence of any good reasons to the contrary, is dictated by the quantity of the narcotic concerned and calculated mathematically and that the mere fact that the defendant had only acted as a courier of the dangerous drug, is not a good reason for departing from that mathematical approach: HKSAR v Kilima Abubaka Abbas [2018] HKCA 602.

In the present case, the quantity of the cocaine narcotic concerned is 1,227.64 grammes. I can see no good reasons to depart from the mathematical starting point. Therefore, applying a mathematical approach, the starting point of the sentence is 23 years’ imprisonment.

Besides, the offence is aggravated by the presence of an International element in that the cocaine was taken into Hong Kong by the defendant from Tanzania. According to the broad guidelines laid down by the Court of Appeal in HKSAR v Chung Ping Kun [2014] 6 HKC 106, for the presence of the international element, an offence for trafficking in over 1,000 grammes of cocaine, the enhancement should be not less than 2 years. I reckoned that the above guidelines are not a strait‑jacket and in my assessment, the enhancement for the International element in the present case should be 2 years. Therefore, the sentence for the offence, before any mitigation is considered, is one of 25 years’ imprisonment.

Regarding mitigation, apart from his timely plea, there is little in the defendant’s personal or family background which can afford him any discount in sentence.

After the customary one‑third discount for the plea, the defendant is sentenced to 16 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.