COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely, 224 grammes of a solid containing 199 grammes of cocaine. At about 5.30 pm on 24 November 2021, the police entered the room in Tower 2, Harbour Plaza Resort City in Tin Shui Wai, which I will simply refer to as ‘the Room’. Inside, the defendant was found sitting at the end of the bed, and another male was sitting on a sofa in the Room.
Upon a search, the police found:
(1) one gold paper bag containing one black plastic bag consisting of an electronic scale and a “Samsung” mobile phone box containing 11 plastic bags containing a total of 224 grammes of a solid containing 199 grammes of cocaine;
(2) two white plastic bags.
The CCTV footage outside the Room captured that shortly before police’s entry, the defendant was carrying the white plastic bags and knocked on the door of the Room. After a few seconds, the door was opened and the defendant entered the Room.
The defendant was then arrested, and under caution, the defendant admitted that the dangerous drugs belonged to him and he sold them to others to make money.
In a subsequent video-recorded interview, the defendant stated that he had no fixed place to live, so the male found in the Room let him stay. On the day of the arrest, he purchased the cocaine at noon in a park at Temple Street. He then put the cocaine into the phone box and the bags and went to the Room. He intended to sell the cocaine to his friends and use the proceeds to pay off his gambling debts. The electronic scale also belonged to him for weighing drugs.
The street value of the cocaine found was $231,616 in powder form and $391,552 in crack form.
Background and Mitigation
The defendant was 33 years old at the date of the offence and is now 36 years old. The defendant finished Form 5 education in Hong Kong. His parents have separated. His mother is now 61 years old and is still working for a living. The defendant is married with a daughter. After quitting school, the defendant had worked as a transportation worker and driver, earning around $10,000 per month.
Amongst his other non-dangerous drugs related records, the defendant had a previous conviction of possession of dangerous drugs and was sentenced to a 14 months’ imprisonment in 2021. He was discharged in October 2021, one month prior to the present offence.
The defendant has had an addiction to methamphetamine for over ten years. I have read the letter written by the defendant and the medical report from the hospital produced to me. The defendant had suffered from a serious skin condition from birth that required him to undergo more than 30 skin grafting operations, and he had a difficult time growing up as a result of his skin deformities. He also suffered from a heart condition which required constant treatment. These factors made the defendant resort to taking drugs.
Considerations of Sentence
The sentencing approach in trafficking cases is set out by the Court of Appeal in HKSAR v Herry Jane Yusuph [2021] 1 HKLRD 290 and HKSAR v Lee Ming Ho [2024] HKCA 150. I therefore follow the six-step sentencing approach set out in Yusuph. I apply the guidelines made out in R v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR 370 and HKSAR v Abdallah [2009] 2 HKLRD 437. The relevant sentencing band for this amount of cocaine is between 8 to 12 years’ imprisonment. For trafficking in a total of 199 grammes of cocaine, a mathematically calculated place within the relevant sentencing band would be 11 years and 11 months’ imprisonment after rounding down.
On the basis of his own admission, he purchased the drugs himself and intended to sell it to others. He is therefore an actual direct trafficker and his culpability is more than a storekeeper or courier. On that basis, I will enhance the starting point by 3 months to 12 years and 2 months’ imprisonment.
The only mitigating factor in this case is the defendant’s guilty plea. He is entitled to a one-third discount off the starting point, which brings the sentence down to 8 years and 1 month’s imprisonment after rounding down.
Defendant, I sentence you to a total of 8 years and 1 month’s imprisonment.