COURT: Please stand up.
The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug contrary to section 4 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. He was committed to this court for sentence.
On the material day, the defendant was stopped by Customs Officers for baggage inspection at the Hong Kong International Airport. Suspecting that the defendant might have concealed dangerous drugs inside his body he was sent to hospital for further examination. 91 pellets containing 0.81 kilogrammes were discharged eventually from his body. The street value was estimated to be over HK$900,000.
The defendant is 27, a national of the Republic of Venezuela. He resided with his girlfriend and his two sons Prior to his departure to Hong Kong, he had been unemployed for the past year.
It was submitted by his defence counsel that due to financial difficulty, the defendant agreed to smuggle the drugs into Hong Kong for a mere US$2,000 reward.
In the course of Miss Fung’s mitigation she also submitted to this court a letter written by the defendant. The defendant asks for leniency from this court.
It has been repeatedly said by the Court of Appeal that personal circumstances count very little in this kind of serious offence. Indeed, I am very much bound by the sentencing guidelines laid down by the court above.
Guidelines on sentencing are clear. The starting point for trafficking in over 800 grammes of cocaine should be set at 21 years’ imprisonment. There is also one aggravating feature in this case; that is, drugs being transported again across countries and continents. Given that the amount is not huge, an extra 1 year will be added.
As such, the sentence point in this case is one of 22 years’ imprisonment. The defendant of course is entitled to one-third discount for his plea.
As such, the defendant is sentenced to 14 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.