CRIMINAL CASE NO. 36 OF 2011
COURT: Eze Maxwell Udoka, the dangers of cocaine and heroin are well known throughout the world. The international trade in dangerous drugs is a major problem, and those who in any way engage in it and use Hong Kong as a transmission point will be dealt with most severely.
You, for reasons of your own, willingly lent your aid to this filthy trade. You attempted to tranship through Hong Kong to the mainland of China 5.97 kilogrammes of drugs, a mixture of cocaine and heroin in which the narcotic content was 3.63 kilogrammes. That is a very large quantity of dangerous drugs indeed. The value of the cocaine has been calculated as $3,728,600, and the value of the heroin at $1,609,500.
You took the risk of being caught, and you were caught, and you have got only yourself to blame for that. To some extent you have been lucky, because had you been caught with this vast quantity of dangerous drugs in the mainland, you would have faced a far more severe penalty than I have power to impose. There, the penalty for trafficking in dangerous drugs is the most severe.
I have listened very carefully to all that Mrs Panesar, most eloquently, has said on your behalf, and she said everything that could be said in your favour.
I have to tell you that there is nothing in your personal circumstances or the circumstances of the commission of your offence which I find to be of mitigating value. Any hardship to your family that will be caused by your incarceration you have brought about yourself. Your health needs, and I accept that you have health needs, will be well attended to in Hong Kong. You will receive the same medical care as all residents of Hong Kong are entitled to.
The fact that you have no recorded previous convictions is of negligible mitigating effect. This is always so in the case of persons who traffic in dangerous drugs. The theoretical possibility that you may be prosecuted for exporting dangerous drugs on your eventual return to Nigeria is of no mitigating value. There is no evidence before me that the Nigerian authorities will prosecute you, and the Hong Kong Court of Appeal has expressed the view that under international treaty obligations which the Federal Republic of Nigeria has entered into, as well as under common law principles, it is highly unlikely that you will face prosecution on your return to your native country.
Your most powerful mitigation lies in your plea of guilty, albeit that it came late in the day. You have saved the court time and you have saved the authorities in Hong Kong expense. But far more importantly than that, your plea of guilty shows realism, and realism is always taken as a sign of remorse, and you will receive full recognition for your plea of guilty.
From what Mrs Panesar told me this morning, she will have explained to you in the clearest possible terms that there are well-established guidelines set down for myself and all judges in Hong Kong as to how we should sentence people who traffic in dangerous drugs. She will have told you that we are under a duty to follow those guidelines, unless there are very strong exceptional circumstances why we should not do so, and there are no exceptional circumstances in your case.
I have to tell you that had you taken this matter to trial, and had a jury found you guilty of trafficking in dangerous drugs, taking into account the very large quantity of drugs that you dealt with, as well as the international aspect of this case, which is an aggravating factor, you would have faced a sentence of 27 years’ imprisonment.
Because of your plea of guilty, the law permits me to reduce that by one-third, which is a very considerable discount. It also takes into account the fact that you are of hitherto good character.
Your sentence therefore for this offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs is one of 18 years’ imprisonment.