COURT: The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, namely 1,403.74 of a mixture containing 784.6 grammes of heroin hydrochloride and 136.51 grammes of 6-monoacetylmorphine hydrochloride.
The facts are all too common and, in fact, I have just sentenced another Tanzanian male for a similar offence on similar facts just half an hour ago.
The defendant arrived on a flight from Dar es Salaam via Addis Ababa on 25 May last year. After being stopped, he was escorted to a toilet and at the International Airport he discharged 10 pellets of suspected dangerous drugs. The defendant was subsequently escorted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he discharged a total of 101 pellets during his stay at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
All the discharged pellets were subsequently examined and found to contain the drugs as stipulated in the charge. The street value of the total of the dangerous drug was estimated at HK$1,125,799.48.
The defendant is aged 24 and has a clear record in Hong Kong and I am told that he has completed form 4 education back in Tanzania. He had a relatively good job in Tanzania as a salesman, but I am told that he was tempted to earn easy money because he said he had damaged a company car and needed to repay the company in the region of over US$1,000. As in most of these cases, the only real mitigating factor is the fact of the defendant’s early plea, which is an indication of his remorse.
As Mr Dunn pointed out, the Court of Appeal has laid down sentencing guidelines for trafficking in dangerous drugs. In the most recent case in 2009 in the case of Abdallah reported at 2 HKC 197, the Court of Appeal had to lay down guidelines for trafficking in heroin in the amounts over 600 grammes. For trafficking in between 600 grammes to 1,200 grammes, the guideline sentence that is recommended is imprisonment of between 20 to 23 years after trial. The starting point in this case would be between 21 to 21 and a half years.
The aggravating feature in this case is the international element of importation into Hong Kong and in this case I will adopt a starting point of 21 years, plus two years more for the aggravating feature, which will give us a total of 23 years imprisonment. But taking into account the fact that the defendant had pleaded guilty, he is entitled to one-third off.
The defendant is sentenced to 15 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.