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HCCC247/2011
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 247 OF 2011
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HKSAR |
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Salvador Dias |
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| Before: |
Deputy High Court Judge Stuart-Moore |
| Date: |
25 August 2011 at 9.59 am |
| Present: |
Ms Chan Shuk-yi, Bertha (Christal), SPP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Kamlesh Arjan Sadhwani, instructed by Messrs Krishnan & Tsang, assigned by the DLA, for the Defendant |
| Offence: |
Trafficking in dangerous drugs (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: The defendant, aged 34, was travelling on a Guinea-Bissau passport when he arrived at the airport on a flight from Bangkok on 9 January 2011. He was stopped as he was going through the ‘green’ channel. Later, an X-ray revealed foreign objects inside his body which he admitted were 67 pellets. He declined to answer any questions.
In due course, the drugs the defendant was carrying were found to be a mixture which weighed 960 grammes containing 540 grammes of heroin hydrochloride and 90 grammes of monoacetylmorphine hydrochloride which, for all practical purposes, has the same narcotic value as heroin. The estimated street value of these drugs was $697,920.
The guideline sentencing tariff in The Queen v Lau Tak Ming [1990] 2 HKLR at page 370 is 15 to 20 years for amounts of between 400 and 600 grammes. I shall take a starting point, in the present circumstances where the combined narcotic weight amounts to 630 grammes, of 20 years’ imprisonment as being appropriate, after trial. This will have to be enhanced by a further year for the international element in the offence.
However, the defendant will receive full credit for his plea of guilty which was first entered in the Magistrates Court and has been confirmed in these proceedings.
Salvador Dias, would you stand up, please. The sentence on you is one of 14 years’ imprisonment.
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