The frequency of travel across our rather porous border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, ease of travel has caused an abuse of this travel by drug traffickers who hide among the vast numbers crossing our border each day to import drugs into Hong Kong.
It is most particularly difficult to detect when drug traffickers use mules to transport rather small amounts across the border each day by attaching these drugs to the body of the mule. The court has to take a serious view as far as sentence is concerned to warn other people tempted to indulge in this trade.
The defendant is aged 39 and has previous convictions for drugs, although he has not had a conviction in the past for trafficking in dangerous drugs. He has had about six charges of possession of dangerous drugs between the years 1998 to 2008 and had been either fined or sent to Drug Addiction Treatment Centre. His last conviction was in 2008 for wounding, or inflicting grievous bodily harm, section 19, Cap 212, when he was sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment.
According to the mitigation advanced on his behalf by Miss Moosdeen, the defendant did not take advantage of the fact that he was lucky enough to be sent away to school and squandered his advantage by not making himself and his life better when he returned to Hong Kong. There is no mitigation that can be advanced on his behalf.
As far as the conspiracy charge itself, it mainly focuses on three occasions when the drugs were imported into Hong Kong. According to the prosecution witness, Chui Tak-man, the first occasion involved 250 grammes of "Ice". The second occasion was about 4 to 5 ounces of heroin, so taking it as 4 ounces of heroin, it would equal about 113.3 grammes. On that occasion, there was also importation of 2 ounces of "Ice" which would make about 56.69 grammes. On the last occasion, it involved 43.28 grammes of "Ice" and 38.39 grammes of cocaine.
So when considering sentence, because it is a cocktail of different types of drugs, according to the Court of Appeal, I therefore would add all the weights up together and consider it to be about 500 grammes of "Ice". And according to the guidelines laid down in Ching Kwok Hung, for trafficking in between 300 to 600 grammes of "Ice" would merit a sentence of some 14 to 18 years’ imprisonment.
I would adopt a starting point of 16 years’ imprisonment. Considering that this conspiracy was to import the drugs into Hong Kong, I would add to it 2 years for the importation aspect.
The defendant is sent to prison for 18 years’ imprisonment.
Please refer to CACC448/2013 for the relevant appeal(s) to the Court of Appeal.