The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug in the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on 15 March 2013. This morning, he confirmed his plea and accepted the Summary of Facts.
Briefly, in the early morning of 6 October 2012, the defendant was intercepted at the arrival hall when he returned to Hong Kong from the mainland via Lok Ma Chau Control Point. Upon a search, four packets of ketamine, which was a total of 0.95 kilogramme of a powder containing 0.79 kilogramme of ketamine, were found inside his shoulder bag. The estimated street value of the drug was about HK$111,000.
Mitigation
The defendant is aged 43 and is single. He received education up to lower secondary level. At the time of his arrest, he was a transportation worker. The defendant has a clear record.
In mitigation, it was said that the defendant committed this offence because at the time, he was planning to marry his girlfriend in the mainland and he required RMB $100,000 for the wedding. As he was alone in Hong Kong and he had no close relatives or friends to turn to, out of stupidity, he agreed to carry the drugs to Hong Kong in order to earn some quick money.
Mr Osmond Lam for the defendant emphasised that the defendant is truly remorseful and has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. He has also worked hard in the past and has had a clear record before the commission of this offence. In the circumstances, Mr Lam asked for a most lenient sentence to be passed on the defendant.
The sentence
In SJ v Hii Siew Cheng & Anor [2009] 1 HKLRD 1, the Court of Appeal laid down the tariffs for trafficking in ketamine. For trafficking in 600 to 1,000 grammes of ketamine, a term of imprisonment of 12 to 14 years is called for.
Having considered the facts of this case, that a total of 790 grammes of ketamine is involved, and the defendant’s background, I am of the view that an initial starting point of 12½ years is appropriate.
In adopting this starting point, I have already taken into account the defendant’s clear record, but for offences as serious as trafficking in a dangerous drug, his absence of previous criminal conviction is not of much assistance in his mitigation. That said, it is to the defendant’s credit that he has not had any previous convictions in the past 40‑something years and I accept that up until the commission of the present offence, he had worked hard to maintain his living through lawful means.
However, in this case, as the defendant carried the drug from the mainland into Hong Kong, I will increase the initial starting point by 6 months to one of 13 years to reflect this aggravating factor.
The defendant pleaded guilty and he will receive a one-third reduction in sentence. 13 years reduced by one-third is 8 years and 8 months’ imprisonment. This is the sentence the defendant is to serve.