HKSAR v. Mwenkalley Salim Nassoro

HCCC 305/2020

[2021] HKCFI 1059

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 305 OF 2020

________________________

________________________

________________________

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

________________________

COURT: Mr Mwenkalley, on 30 November of last year, you pleaded guilty before the Eastern Magistracy of one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, contrary to section 4(1) and 3 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, and you accepted that you arrived at Hong Kong International Airport on 21 December 2019 with 762 grammes of cocaine concealed within your body, having swallowed it in pellet form. You had ingested 70 pellets in all.

You are a Tanzanian national and had travelled to Hong Kong via Entebbe and Dubai. Your ultimate destination, I understand, was Macau, but of course you never reached it because as Mr McNamara said, you were not allowed into Hong Kong. You were refused entry. Upon arrest and caution, you admitted straight away that you had been given the cocaine by a Brazilian man in Uganda and you hoped, in return for taking such a risk, to receive US$5,000.

The estimated street value in Hong Kong of the drugs that you were carrying inside you was HK$948,532, but you of course would have no idea of the value of the drugs that you were carrying, and equally, no idea of the consequences to you of the amount of dangerous drugs you were seeking to import into Hong Kong. That is why people like you are used as drug mules, and I am sure, as Mr McNamara has indicated, that the offer of the US$5,000 was a huge incentive, not because you were greedy, but because it was a lifeline for your wife and your six daughters, and also for your elderly parents, and it was therefore a risk that you were prepared to take in order to provide for them. I have read your letter and I do accept that you are truly sorry for what you sought to do.

But, Mr Mwenkalley, the difficulty that the courts face in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the world is that trafficking of dangerous drugs is an evil, and it affects very many people, directly and indirectly. It affects families just like yours and it affects communities just like yours. Drug dealers are always looking for ways to transport their goods and to avoid detection and they use people who are wholly ignorant of what could happen to them if they are caught carrying large quantities of dangerous drugs.

It may not feel like it, but you are actually extremely lucky that you were asked to bring these drugs into Hong Kong and not into Indonesia or Malaysia or Singapore. Your fate would have been far worse if you had done so. But I do accept that in this country, that the sentencing regime is a punitive one and it is far less punitive in other countries, so I understand that you would not have understood what happens here in Hong Kong, but we are in Hong Kong, and here in Hong Kong we do our very best to deter trafficking, especially international trafficking.

You are 41 years of age and good character. You are married. I know you have six daughters who remain in Tanzania and who will be without your support for some time to come; as well, your parents. You told the authorities that at some stage you were previously in the business of selling spare parts and used motorcycles and Mr McNamara tells the court that you were recently a street vendor selling clothes, so you were certainly not affluent. According to your antecedents, you were able to earn approximately 500,000 Tanzanian shillings a month.

As Mr McNamara said, sentencing for trafficking in dangerous drugs is subject to guidelines. The guideline case for trafficking in between 600 and 1,200 grammes of cocaine is HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2 HKLRD 347, and the range of sentence for that is between 20 and 23 years. For 762 grammes of cocaine, the starting point after trial is therefore 20 years and 9 months, and there is also the aggravating feature, that you have imported the drugs into Hong Kong. According to HKSAR v Chung Ping Kun, CACC 85/2014, for 762 grammes of liquid cocaine, I consider the enhancement should be 1 year and 6 months, a total of 22 years and 3 months. You are of course entitled to a full one-third discount for your guilty plea at the first opportunity. That is to your credit, and shows your remorse. But, unfortunately, there is no other mitigation that can reduce your sentence further.

You will go to prison for a period of 14 years and 10 months.