CRIMINAL CASE NO. 365 OF 2011
COURT: The defendant pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section 4(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap. 134.
He was intercepted at the Kowloon Tong MTR Concourse. His briefcase was searched and a packet of drugs was found in an envelope. He admitted that he helped someone to deliver the 'K Chai' from Shenzhen in China to a person in Hong Kong. He had not been paid yet.
Upon analysis, the drugs were found to be 0.49 of a kilogram of a powder containing 0.38 of a kilogram of ketamine. The retail value of the drugs was $55,370.
By way of mitigation, I am informed that the defendant is now aged 38, divorced, with a son aged 4.
He has five previous records, none are drugs related. In 1997, he was sentenced to the DATC for possession of goods for sale to which a forged trademark was applied.
It is advanced on his behalf that he committed the present offence for financial reasons as he has been unemployed since 2008 and finally succumbed to the temptation. His mother also wrote in, asking the court for clemency on the basis that the defendant is the sole supporter of the family financially.
In sentencing the defendant, I have taken into account the nature of the offence, the kind of drugs involved and the sentencing tariff, as well as mitigation advanced by counsel and the contents of a handwritten letter submitted by the defendant’s mother.
For trafficking in ketamine weighing between 300 to 600 grammes, a starting point of 9 to 12 years is to be adopted. In the case of HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar, although it dealt with heroin, the Court of Appeal reiterated the principle in sentencing trafficking cases with an international element. In that case, it is said that for an amount of heroin over 1 kilogram, international element will attract an enhancement of not less than 2 years.
I note the drugs in the present case is not heroin but ketamine and the quantity is nowhere near 1 kilogram. However, I cannot overlook the aggravating feature of the cross-border element.
I adopt a starting point of 10½ years’ imprisonment and I shall give the defendant a full one-third discount for his plea of guilty. He is sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment.