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HCCC 422/2012
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CRIMINAL CASE NO 422 OF 2012
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HKSAR |
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Florez Arboleda Edison Hernando |
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| Date: |
29 January 2013 at 11.24 am |
| Present: |
Mr Lenny Cheng, PP of the Department of Justice, for HKSAR
Mrs Mahinder M Panesar, instructed by Krishnan & Tsang, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid, for the accused |
| Offence: |
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: On 13 March last year you flew into Hong Kong, cleared Immigration and were subjected to a search at the airport which revealed nothing. You were taken to hospital for a more thorough examination, obviously because there was some suspicion about whether you had drugs secreted within you, and over the following eight days you egested a total quantity of drugs that amounted to 801.49 grammes of cocaine.
When you were arrested and cautioned you accepted that you had swallowed those pellets and brought them to Hong Kong for a reward. You said that you were aware of the drugs but did not know the nature of them. The reward I am told today, and it sounds plausible, is that you had become indebted to somebody in Colombia and had been unable to repay the debt and you or your family had been threatened unless you carried out this courier run.
I am sure you have been told that the courts in Hong Kong have long taken a very firm stance against the importation of dangerous drugs. These offences are met by substantial period of imprisonment. That is necessary to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a drugs hub for this part of the world because had you committed this offence in a number of other jurisdictions in this area, a period of imprisonment would be out of the question.
The Court of Appeal has laid down tariffs for the amount of sentence that is to be imposed for any given amount of drugs which leave lower courts with very little room to manoeuvre.
I see no reason to disbelieve what I have been told on your behalf about personal circumstances, but the harsh reality of life is that the overwhelming majority of people who participate in these activities have stories that are equally deserving of empathy.
It seems to me that I am able to adopt an initial starting point prior to any enhancement, of 20 years imprisonment: the leading authority on this particular type of offence and drug allows a little bit of leeway. It also suggests that for quantities in excess of 1 kilogram the amount of enhancement should be 2 years. Yours is less than a kilogram, not by much but 20 per cent, so I feel that I am able to enhance the sentence rather by 1 year. That makes a total sentence after trial that you should serve of 21 years. You are entitled to a one-third discount for your timeous plea of guilty. That reduces the period of imprisonment you are to serve to 14 years.
There are no further mitigating features that are available to you. That is the period you will serve.
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