COURT: On 26 July this year you pleaded guilty to the charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 8.77 kilogrammes of a solid containing 7.19 kilogrammes of ketamine.
You also admitted the Summary of Facts. The facts were that at around 6 pm on 22 December 2012, patrolling police officers intercepted you at the staircase at 6th Floor, No. 37 Sai Yee Street, Mong Kok. You were carrying a travel bag. Police found in the said travel bag nine transparent resealable plastic bags of suspected dangerous drugs. You were arrested. Under caution you said:
“The dangerous drugs, which I keep for a friend for the time being, would later be delivered to another person. I have nothing to do. Intended to make some money.”
I am told this morning that you met the man who supplied the drug in a karaoke. You agreed to deliver the drug for him for a reward, but in fact you had not received any money from the man. The estimated retail value of that quantity of ketamine is around HK$1,061,170.
You were 17 when you committed this offence. You are now 18. Your counsel, Miss Vennie Chiu has ably said everything she could in your favour. However, the facts that you were young at the time and that you have a clear record can count little in an offence of this nature and magnitude. The quantity of drug involved is 7.19 kilogrammes. This is a very large quantity and you will have to serve a very long sentence.
It is not a comforting experience for this court to have to deprive you, a young lady, of your precious youthful years. This should be a painful lesson to you and I hope a reminder to so many other teenagers who allow themselves to be lured into this dangerous drug business. You, however, have one factor in your favour. You chose to plead guilty to the charge, for which I shall give you the full one-third discount in sentence.
The sentencing guidelines are set out in SJ v Hii Siew Cheng [2009] 1 HKLRD 1. Mr Cheung, for the prosecution, also relied on HKSAR v Sin Chun Kin & Another CACC458/2011 (reported in [2013] 1 HKLRD 627) in which the Court of Appeal said that, for trafficking in 3,000 grammes of ketamine, the appropriate starting point should be no less than 20 years. On the facts of that case a starting point of 22 years was upheld for trafficking in 5.12 kilogrammes of ketamine and 18.8 grammes of cocaine. The Court of Appeal noted that the starting point for trafficking in 18.8 grammes of cocaine alone could be as long as six years. Ms Chiu submitted that that suggested flexibility, but I cannot overlook the fact that the quantity of ketamine in this case, 7.19 kilogrammes, exceeds that in the Sin case by 2.05 kilogrammes.
Taking into account your personal circumstances and the circumstances surrounding the commission of this offence, I shall take a starting point of 21 years. I shall reduce it by one-third to 14 years. That is the sentence you shall serve: 14 years’ imprisonment.