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HCCC193/2011
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO. 193 OF 2011
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HKSAR |
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v. |
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Agaton Pedro Bautista |
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Before:
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Deputy High Court Judge Longley
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Date:
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27 July 2011 at 9.53 am
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Present:
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Mr P J Power, SADPP, of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mr Graeme Alexander Mackay, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the Accused
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Offence:
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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: Pedro Bautista Agaton, you have been committed to this court for sentence following your plea of guilty in the Magistrates' Court to trafficking in 4,015.10 grammes of a powder containing 2,415.16 grammes of cocaine. This very large quantity of cocaine was in 12 packets concealed in a hidden compartment at the bottom of the suitcase which you had brought into Hong Kong, by air, from Manila on 22 November last year. You were about to take the suitcase containing the drugs by ferry to Macau.
Some idea of the quantity that was involved can be gleaned from the fact that if those drugs had been sold on the streets of Hong Kong, they would have been worth more than HK$3.6 million. At the time that you committed this offence you were a mature man, a businessman, and cannot have failed to realise the gravity of what you were doing and the fact that very serious consequences would follow if you were caught. I can only assume that the financial reward that you were promised for undertaking this journey made it appear worthwhile to you to take that risk.
As I am sure Mr Mackay will have explained to you the normal initial starting point for those who traffic in between 1.2 and 4 kilograms of cocaine is between 23 and 26 years’ imprisonment. That is before any enhancement for the fact that these drugs were brought across international borders; in other words the international element of this offence.
In your case, I adopt an initial starting point of 24 years’ imprisonment which I enhance by 2 years to reflect the international element of this offence. The final starting point I adopt is, therefore, 26 years’ imprisonment. I bear in mind all that has been said on your behalf by Mr Mackay and the fact that you are a man of 54, and as far as is known, a man of previous good character. I take into account that you say you committed this offence mainly to further the education of your children. These, however, are factors of very limited significance when it comes to an offence of this gravity.
The most important mitigating factor in this case is the remorse which you have expressed in the letter that has been given to me and that you have shown by pleading guilty to this offence. For that, you are entitled to the usual discount.
I accordingly sentence you to 17 years’ imprisonment.
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