COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 0.77 of a kilogram of a solid containing 0.51 of a kilogram of cocaine.
It is unfortunate for Hong Kong that we are constantly faced with arrivals from overseas, carrying drugs concealed in their person. The defendant is no exception. He is aged 38 and is from Colombia and arrived in Hong Kong on a flight from Dubai.
He subsequently discharged 14 packets from his body and when asked what they were, he said it was cocaine. He was then arrested and cautioned, admitted to hospital and discharged a further 57 packets. So in total, he discharged 71 packets of cocaine from his body. The total retail value is estimated to be about HK$961,730.
The defendant is aged 39 and he has a clear record in Hong Kong. In mitigation, Mr Chan disclosed that the defendant is married with children and that he committed this offence for financial reasons. It is all too common a reason that is given to the court and in drug cases, all the excuses and reasons are not taken into account in mitigation because the Hong Kong Government is battling a constant war against drugs being taken into Hong Kong and distributed locally, thus creating a lot of tragic circumstances within our society.
So the Court of Appeal in Hong Kong has laid down guidelines for sentencing in trafficking of dangerous drugs as early as in the case of Lau Tak Ming where, for trafficking in between 400 to 600 grammes of heroin, or cocaine, it would merit an imprisonment of 15 to 20 years after trial. The Court of Appeal has said that the guidelines laid down in Lau Tak Ming are equally applicable to trafficking in cocaine.
In this case, the defendant has been found trafficking in 510 grammes of cocaine which would merit a sentence of between 17½ to 18 years’ imprisonment. The defendant has a clear record in Hong Kong, so I will adopt the lower starting point of 17½ years.
There is an aggravating factor in that the defendant was importing the drug into Hong Kong so I will increase the sentence by 1 year to 18½ years.
Giving the defendant the full one-third discount for his plea, the sentence is therefore reduced to 12 years and 4 months. The defendant will go to prison for 12 years and 4 months.