COURT: Defendant, on 20 July 2023 you pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs before a magistrate sitting at the Eastern Magistracy. You admitted that on 17 February 2022 at your home in Ying Fai House, Hoi Ying Estate, Lai Ying Street, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, you unlawfully trafficked in 211.09 grammes of a solid containing 155.66 grammes of cocaine, 3.88 grammes of a solid containing 3.26 grammes of ketamine, 279 tablets and one tablet fragment containing 43.05 grammes of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, being a compound structurally derived from N-alkyl-α-methylphenethylamine by substitution in the ring with an alkyl-enedioxy substituent. This is commonly known as MDMA or ecstasy.
You admitted a Summary of Facts in support of your commission of this offence and they can be stated as follows. At about 1730 hours on 17 February 2022, police officers mounted an anti-narcotics operation in the vicinity of Ying Fai House, Hoi Ying Estate. At about 1746 hours the same day, you were seen walking to the atrium of Ying Fai House and Ying Cheong House. You were then intercepted by the police officers.
You confirmed that you lived at the address as stated in the charge and at the particular room. You were then escorted back to your home by the police. With keys upon your person you opened your house residence gate and wooden door. The police entered the flat with you, and upon the strength of a search warrant the flat was searched.
Found inside of the flat was the quantity of drugs stated in the charge. In respect of the cocaine, the cocaine was found contained inside 54 separate plastic bags. The quantity of ketamine was found in one plastic bag, while the tablets of MDMA were found in three plastic bags. One plastic bag containing numerous small resealable plastic bags was also found.
You were arrested and under caution you said, “Only because I’m unemployed due to the pandemic I take the dangerous drugs outside to sell them to people to make money. My mother and father have nothing to do with this.”
The market retail value of all the drugs seized was $355,234.
Defendant, as has happened in so many of these cases nowadays after the pandemic defendants have come to court at a young age, like yourself, 28 years old, and more particularly, having never committed an offence before. As your counsel, Mr Luk King-wang has said, this is because during the pandemic you had lost your employment and, as a result, was lured into trafficking into drugs by your dubious peers and promised high rewards, and due to the greed -- your greed for quick money, committed this offence.
You are only 29 years of age. You have been educated to secondary 1 in the mainland. Prior to your unemployment you had a good job working as a dim sum chef in a restaurant earning $17,500. You were the major breadwinner of your family; that is of your parents and yourself.
Mr Luk has pointed out that you had been unemployed for more than two years by the time you committed this offence. As a result of your financial difficulties and your greed to make quick money you could not resist the temptation to earn quick money. However, I am informed that you had never received a penny.
Mr Luk has said since your remand in custody you have had deep reflection on your unlawful acts, and you understand the seriousness of this offence. You have a great determination to rehabilitate and start afresh with the support of your family who are here in court today. You have promised to turn a new leaf and you plan to work in the catering industry again once you are released.
Mr Luk has quite properly referred to the leading guideline cases for trafficking in dangerous drugs. There were three types of drugs involved in this trafficking charge. They were the drugs of cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy. The sentencing guideline case for trafficking in cocaine is that of The Queen v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR 370. The sentencing guideline for trafficking in ketamine and ecstasy is HKSAR v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1.
For trafficking in multiple drugs and in sentencing you I will adopt the combined approach as well as the conversion approach in converting the ketamine and MDMA to the more potent drug of cocaine so as to calculate the starting point of the total drugs.
Firstly, let me turn to the drugs of ketamine and MDMA. There were 3.26 grammes of ketamine and 43.05 grammes of MDMA. As these two types of drugs are applied the same case of Hii Siew Cheng, I will add those two drugs together which makes a total quantity of 46.31 grammes.
Looking at the case of Hii Siew Cheng, the quantity of drugs falls within the band of 10 to 50 grammes, which attracts a term of imprisonment of between 4 to 6 years as a starting point after trial. For this quantity of drugs I would have adopted a starting point of 5 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.
In converting that term to an equivalent quantity of cocaine, that would be approximately 16 grammes of cocaine. In respect of the cocaine quantity there was 155.66 grammes. Adding the 16 grammes to that quantity would be 171.66 grammes of cocaine in total.
Following the guideline case of Lau Tak Ming, that would fall in the band of between 50 grammes and 200 grammes which would attract a sentence of imprisonment after trial of between 8 to 12 years’ imprisonment. Taking the quantity that you were trafficking in, that is 171.66 grammes, had you been convicted after trial I would have taken a term of 11 years’ imprisonment as a starting point.
As your counsel correctly states, the aggravating factor in this case is the seizure of the three types of dangerous drugs which were cocaine, ketamine and MDMA. As laid down by the Court of Appeal in HKSAR v Islam S M Majharul [2020] 3 HKLRD 146 at paragraph 27(4):
“Fourthly, determine the level of enhancement to the starting point for the aggravating factor that the trafficking involved two or more serious dangerous drugs. We would enhance the starting point by 3 months to 12 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.”
I consider, defendant, that an enhancement of 3 months’ imprisonment to be appropriate. In the circumstances, had you been convicted after trial I would have taken a notional starting point of 11 years and 3 months’ imprisonment. Giving you full credit for your plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity, and awarding you the full one-third discount, that term should be reduced to one of 7 years 6 months, to which you shall so serve.