On 13 August 2013 you entered Hong Kong after flying in from Beijing through the Hong Kong International Airport. Inside your suitcase were four backpacks and concealed within inside those backpacks were the dangerous drugs, cocaine. The total weight of the mixture was 10.26 kilogrammes of a powder containing the narcotic content of 8.04 kilogrammes of cocaine.
You defence counsel, Mr Poots, has made brief and short mitigation for you. He has referred me to the case of HKSAR v Abdallah Anwar Abbas which is the guideline case for sentencing of the dangerous drug cocaine. By referring me to this case it is obvious that I am bound by the guidelines set down by the Court of Appeal in respect of sentencing in this quantity of dangerous drugs.
You are 23 years of age of Russian nationality, born in and living in Russia. At the time you committed this offence you were 22 years of age. You have a clear record, that is you have no criminal convictions either in Hong Kong or in Russia. You are single.
As I am sure you are well aware, defendant, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a very serious offence indeed. The courts in Hong Kong, particularly the upper courts and most recently in the case of HKSAR v Tam Yi Chun, CACC 524/2011, the Honourable Stock VP, as he then was, remarked that:
“The gravely delirious effect of this drug...”
Although he was referring to “ice”:
“...is why the courts in Hong Kong, or in this jurisdiction, impose harsh and unforgiving sentences on those who traffic in this substance.”
As long ago as in R v Lau Tak Ming in 1989, the courts lay down guideline sentences for trafficking in cocaine. The trafficking of drugs affects people and is an evil matter to get into when these people take drugs. It is said by the Court of Appeal that mitigating factors are few in this type of serious offence. Age and clear record is not a mitigating factor for these offences of utmost gravity. Drug dealers are notorious for attempting to elicit sympathy from the courts for the use of the young or people with clear records to carry out their nefarious trade.
In this case, defendant, it is clear that the jury had found you had full knowledge of the drugs in your suitcase. This was what appeared to be a very well planned travel plan which you unfortunately got yourself involved in to bring back these nasty drugs and import them into Hong Kong.
The quantity of drugs that you brought in was in any terms a very large amount. Most recently in 2009 as the case I mentioned earlier, Lau Tak Ming, did not cater for such large quantities of cocaine, the Court of Appeal set out in the case of Abdallah, CACC 304/2008, further guidelines for trafficking in cocaine which dealt with these very large quantities of drugs.
The guideline starting point for traffickers after trial for the amount of 4,000 to 15,000 grammes of cocaine is a sentence of imprisonment of between 26 to 30 years’ imprisonment. For the fact that you have imported these drugs into Hong Kong, that is an aggravating factor calling for an enhancement of the starting point. In Abdallah the court envisaged that the enhancement for amounts above 1 kilogram would not be less than 2 years’ imprisonment in addition to the guideline tariff.
Defendant, you are a very young lady. It is most unfortunate that the sentence the court has to pass upon you is sadly one longer than the years since your birth.
Defendant, for the amount of cocaine that you were trafficking in, I take a sentence of 27 years’ imprisonment. As a result of you importing these drugs into Hong Kong, which bears an international element, that sentence shall be enhanced by a further 2 years.
The total sentence to which you are sentenced to imprisonment is one of 29 years’ imprisonment.