CRIMINAL CASE NO. 276 OF 2012
COURT: The accused pleads guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, involving 2.05 kilograms of a powder containing 1.69 kilograms of ketamine.
Facts Admitted
On 1 April 2012, Customs officers intercepted the accused who had just arrived in Hong Kong from China at Customs Arrival Hall, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point. Upon body search, eight packets of a total weight of 2.05 kilograms of a powder containing 1.69 kilograms of ketamine were found wrapped on the body of the accused underneath her garments.
On being arrested and cautioned for the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug, the accused admitted that she had delivered the dangerous drugs for others to earn money. In the video-recorded interviews conducted subsequently, she further admitted, inter alia, that she had brought the ketamine from China to Hong Kong for a reward of $10,000 and the dangerous drugs were to be taken to Sheung Shui Railway Station where someone would receive them and would pay her the reward.
The street value of the ketamine was estimated at about $200,000 at the time of seizure.
Criminal Record
The accused has 18 previous convictions of which three are possession of a dangerous drug. Her last conviction was on 15 May 2008 when she was sentenced to a total of 27 months’ imprisonment for the offences of burglary, possession of a dangerous drug, and possession of Part I poison.
Mitigation
The accused is 37 years of age, received education up to form 3. She has worked as a beautician, waitress at nightclub and an MTR attendant.
The accused submits a letter to court saying that she committed the offence because she was anxious to get money to clear her debts and to help her father in his hometown. She asks for leniency so that she can be released early to look after her elderly father and mother who are aged 87 and 70 respectively.
Counsel for the accused points out that the accused pleads guilty at the earliest opportunity, showing that she is genuinely remorseful for her misdeeds. She has the support of her family and her boyfriend. She was addicted to dangerous drug herself and found it difficult to get out. She was not sure of the quantity of the ketamine she was carrying. Counsel stresses that she deserves a sentence at the lower end of the tariff and full discount should be given for her plea of guilty.
Sentence
The total amount of ketamine involved in the present case is 1.69 kilograms which goes beyond the sentencing tariffs in Secretary for Justice v Hii Siew Cheng & Anor [2008] 3 HKC 323 which held that trafficking in ketamine of more than 1 kilogram, the starting point should be over 14 years’ imprisonment.
In the case of HKSAR v Yeung Tak Lung HCCC227/2012, the Court of First Instance adopted a starting point of 16 years’ imprisonment for an accused who trafficked in 4.2 kilograms of ketamine. In the case of HKSAR v Leung Wai Man CACC24/2007, a large quantity of ketamine was involved and the Court of Appeal stressed that a sentencing court should exercise its discretion according to the circumstances of the case.
Although the accused in the present case committed the offence because she was debt-ridden and was anxious to help her father financially, economic reasons can never constitute a reason to offend the law and is certainly not a valid mitigating factor. The court has much sympathy for the accused that she has to be locked up and separated from her elderly parents for quite some time, but the court again has to stress that this cannot be a mitigating factor.
In the present case, the accused took the dangerous drugs across the border and this is no doubt an aggravating factor the court has to consider.
Having considered the whole circumstances of the case, the court adopts a starting point of 15½ years’ imprisonment. Giving credit to the guilty plea of the accused, the court sentences the accused to 10 years 4 months’ imprisonment.