CRIMINAL CASE NO. 316 OF 2009
COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 58.19 grammes of a mixture containing 43.62 grammes of heroin hydrochloride, and 10.61 grammes of a crystalline solid containing 10.46 grammes of “Ice”.
The facts of the case were that at Lo Wu, the defendant was stopped by Customs officers, and was suspected, and later confirmed, to have ingested the said drugs in two pellets into his body for smuggling into Hong Kong.
Under caution, he said he was carrying the drugs for someone else.
The defendant is aged 42, very soon to be 43. He was born in Hong Kong and was educated up to primary level. He worked as a casual manual labourer and lived mainly in Shenzhen with his girlfriend.
He has 10 previous convictions, six of which were for possessing and smoking dangerous drugs.
In mitigation, counsel submits that the defendant committed the present offence out of a moment of weakness and for monetary gain, but that is hardly a factor in his favour.
Given the quantity of the drug involved, the starting point in this case should, in my view, be one of 8 years. With a guilty plea, it shall be reduced by one-third to 5 years and 4 months, but that is all the discount I can properly give the defendant.
So 5 years and 4 months is the sentence I pass on him.