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HCCC321/2009
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 321 OF 2009
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| Before: |
Deputy High Court Judge Longley |
| Date: |
3 December 2009 at 11.04 am |
| Present: |
Mr Harish Hariram Melwaney, SPP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr A Michael Delaney, instructed by Messrs John Ho & Tsui, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in a dangerous drug (販運危險藥物) |
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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case
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COURT: Zaouo Lamah, you have been committed to this court for sentence following your plea of guilty in the magistrates’ court to trafficking in 1,478.98 grammes of the mixture containing 217.55 grammes of monoacetylmorphine hydrochloride and 701.71 grammes of heroin hydrochloride. Those drugs were 99 pellets which were concealed inside your body when you arrived at Hong Kong Airport on 15 March this year. You had flown from Ghana via Dubai to Hong Kong.
The estimated street value in Hong Kong of this very large quantity of drugs was approximately HK$677,000. You told the Customs officers at the time that your destination ultimately was not Hong Kong but the mainland. You also told the officers that you had had troubles with your business, that you had seven children to support, and so that you had agreed to help a friend to bring these drugs into Hong Kong in return for a reward of US$5,000. All of those mitigating circumstances have been repeated to me again today by Mr Delaney on your behalf.
Drug trafficking, as you well know, is an evil business, and it is taken very seriously by the courts in Hong Kong. Mr Delaney has told me that you realise that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught. What makes this offence particularly serious is that you were bringing drugs from one country to another. Bearing that factor in mind, in my view the appropriate starting point in this case is 22 years’ imprisonment.
I take into account all that has been eloquently said on your behalf by Mr Delaney. I have also read the letter from you, from your wife, and the other letters which have been submitted to me. I bear in mind that you committed this offence primarily to support your seven children, for whom you were the sole breadwinner. Many of those who yield to temptation to bring drugs into Hong Kong do so because of financial hardship suffered by their families. However, this is a factor to which the court can attach very little weight when it comes to an offence as serious as drug trafficking. This is an offence which affects the health and even the lives of those to whom the drugs are eventually supplied. You knew that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught, and yet you decided to take the risk.
The only substantial mitigation in your case is your plea of guilty, and for that you are entitled to the usual discount of one-third.
I sentence you to 14½ years’ imprisonment.
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