COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. He is committed to this court for sentence.
The Summary of Facts reveals the following. On 1 December 2020, the defendant was intercepted by police officers inside a building at North Point. With a key seized from the defendant, police officers found inside one of the subunits of the building 19.31 grammes of ketamine, 1.51 grammes of fluorodeschloroketamine and 38.75 grammes of cocaine and a number of electronic scales and numerous resealable plastic bags of different sizes.
The street value was estimated to be around HK$100,000.
The defendant is now 25 and single. Prior to his arrest he was a warehouse worker making 12,000 each month. The defendant also has a similar trafficking in a dangerous drug record.
Guidelines on sentencing are clear. Starting point for trafficking in 38.75 grammes of cocaine is one of 86 months’ imprisonment. That is 7 years and 2 months. In addition to that there is the quantity of ketamine. Well, ketamine and fluorodeschloroketamine, I treat the two as the same. Counsel agree that an additional 4 months should be added to reflect the quantity of ketamine.
The defendant was obviously not simply acting as a courier in this case. Judging from the paraphernalia found at the scene, the defendant essentially operated a distributing centre at the building. Given also the fact that this is not the first time that the defendant has committed the trafficking-in-dangerous-drug offence, an additional 6 months would be added. The overall starting point is therefore set at 96 months’ imprisonment.
In summary, for the offence he stands convicted, he is sentenced to 64 months’ imprisonment, ie, 5 years and 4 months.