COURT: Defendant, on 20 June 2022, you pleaded guilty before a magistrate to a charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs. As a result of your plea of guilty, you have been committed here to the Court of First Instance for sentence. You admitted that on 7 May 2021 at Room 311 of the E-hotel, National Court at Nos. 240-252 Nathan Road, Jordan, in Kowloon, you unlawfully trafficked in 634 grammes of crystalline solid containing 624 grammes of methamphetamine hydrochloride, commonly known as ‘Ice’.
You admitted a Summary of Facts in support of this charge and they can be stated as follows. On 6 May 2021 at around 7 pm, an anti-narcotics operation was conducted at the E-hotel by police officers. They had laid ambush at an adjacent room to yours, which was Room 310, your room being Room 311. They were there conducting a covert operation observing you. At that time, they saw you walking along the corridor and entering Room 311. At around 8.40 on the same day, you left Room 311 and left the hotel.
You returned to the hotel the following day in the early hours of 7 May 2021 at about half past midnight. When you reached the door of Room 311, the police officers came out from Room 310 and intercepted you. They revealed their identity. You became emotional and tried to walk back to the hotel exit. You were, however, subdued. You were then escorted back to the door of Room 311 and the QR code key found from your mobile phone was used to open the door of Room 311.
Armed with a search warrant, the police officers conducted a search of Room 311. Among other things, the drugs as quantified in the charge were found together with two glass bottles inserted with a glass tube and plastic tube, which contained small amounts of a liquid containing very small amounts of cocaine. Also found were a plastic spoon, nine plastic straws, two electronic scales, three bundles of empty resealable plastic bags and two flame guns.
Upon arrest and caution, you remained silent. However, in a video-recorded interview conducted with you thereafter, you admitted that inside the room contained the dangerous drug ‘Ice’. On 2 May 2021, you met a person named ‘Ar Sang’, who asked you to traffic in the dangerous drugs and promised you a reward of 500 for a transaction. Ar Sang had told you that someone would call you to pick up the dangerous drugs. On or about 4 May 2021, an unknown male called you at about 11 pm and asked you to pick up the drugs. You then picked up those drugs and brought them back to Room 311.
Room 311 was rented by a female friend of yours called Coco. As you had no place to live, she allowed you to reside at 311 free of charge for the past two months.
You said the two glass bottles found inside the room were for consuming cocaine and did not belong to you. The other exhibits were used for the dividing of drugs into portions as provided by Ar Sang. You said that you were a drug abuser and consumed ‘Ice’ for the past 20 years.
In May 2021, the estimated street value of the methamphetamine seized was about $345,530.
Defendant, you are 43 years of age. You have 15 previous convictions, three related to possession of dangerous drugs but none similar to trafficking in dangerous drugs. Your last conviction was for possession of dangerous drugs in 2019, to which you were sentenced to 5 months’ imprisonment. You were released from prison for that offence on 30 November 2019. You have been educated up to Form 4 and was a construction worker.
Mr Chong Tin-chun, your counsel, has mitigated on your behalf and he informs this court that at the end of 2020 you became unemployed and then worked on a casual basis for five to six days a month, earning approximately $800 a day. Prior to that, you were earning $15,000 a month. You became unemployed because the company you worked for closed down due to the pandemic.
In your letter written to me, you said that you became unemployed and as such you could not afford the cost of drugs. You had incurred debts for your living and were in arrears for rent of your residence. You were at your wits end and therefore resorted to trafficking in the hope of making some quick money. You state you are very remorseful now and because of a fleeting moment of greed you have now lost the opportunity to see your daughter grow up. I am informed that you have a daughter, aged 8, with your former girlfriend and your parents have both passed away.
As Mr Chong has said, you committed this offence because you were in financial difficulties and succumbed to the momentary greed and foolishly committed this offence. He has informed me you did not receive any award yet at the time of your arrest.
In regards to sentencing you for trafficking in these dangerous drugs, ‘Ice’, the guideline cases are that of HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun and in trafficking in over 600 grammes of ‘Ice’, the same tariffs for ‘Ice’ as applied in heroin and cocaine should be followed as prescribed in HKSAR v Abdallah. In Abdallah, the starting point for trafficking between 600 to 1,200 grammes of heroin or cocaine is between 20 to 23 years’ imprisonment.
Defendant, you were a courier of these dangerous drugs. You had been asked to traffic by the person named Ar Sang. I consider an appropriate starting point had you been convicted after trial of 20 years’ imprisonment. The strongest mitigating factor in your case is your early plea of guilty at the first opportunity. On that basis, you shall be awarded a full one-third discount to your sentence. There are no aggravating factors in this case and no other mitigating factors and in those circumstances, you shall be sentenced to 13 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.