HKSAR v. Jarho Saidu

HCCC 117/2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CRIMINAL CASE NO 117 OF 2015

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Transcript of the Audio Recording
of the Sentence in the above Case

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COURT: Defendant, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug, contrary to section (4)(1)(a) and (3) of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.

You have admitted that on 22 September 2014 at the Hong Kong International Airport at Chep Lap Kok, you unlawfully trafficked in 933 grammes of a solid containing 687 grammes of cocaine.

On that day you had arrived in Hong Kong on a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Abu Dhabi. You were refused landing in Hong Kong and was searched. Upon your body inside your underpants were found 17 pellets of what is now known as the dangerous drugs. You were then arrested and cautioned. You said that those pellets contained cocaine and that you had swallowed 70 pellets. You subsequently discharged a total of 64 pellets of the drugs.

In a record of interview conducted in the presence of a Spanish interpreter you said that you went to Brazil from Argentina by bus and then you took a flight to Abu Dhabi and from there to Hong Kong. On 19 September 2014 you were given 81 pellets containing these drugs in Brazil by a person named James. You had swallowed the pellets in a house in Sao Paulo. This person James had arranged your trip to Hong Kong and paid for the expenses incurred during the trip. You had been told that when you arrived in Hong Kong you were to go to a hotel that had already been reserved for you where you would discharge the drugs. A person by the name of “Abu” would then come to look for you and you would then pass the drugs to Abu. You had received US$1,000 as a reward but were promised US$5,000 should the pass-over be successful.

The estimate retail value of the seized drug in September 2014 was $997,377.

Defendant, you are a 28-year-old man, originally from Liberia and now living in Argentina. You are of clear record. In Argentina you work as a self-employed construction worker earning approximately US$150 a month.

Your counsel, Mr Polson, has mitigated fully and thoroughly on your behalf. He rightly points out that your strongest mitigating factor is your plea of guilty. I am informed by Mr Polson that you succumbed to committing this offence to assist a friend, whom you believed was a friend, called James, and the factor of greed was the money that you were to be offered.

As Mr Polson properly points out there are sentence tariff guidelines for trafficking in dangerous drugs in Hong Kong. The original case to which cocaine was applicable was R v Lau Tak Ming but those amounts only went up to 600 grammes.

Another guideline case is that of Abdallah Anwar Abbas which sets out the starting points from 600 grammes upwards.

You fall in that category of Abbas of 600 to 1,200 grammes to which a starting point of between 20 to 23 years’ imprisonment after trial is appropriate.

Also in Abbas the court held that there be an aggravating factor calling for enhancement of the starting point where an international element was involved. In this case you have brought these drugs from abroad into Hong Kong and that is considered by the courts in Hong Kong to be an aggravating factor calling for enhancement.

Defendant, in view of the quantity of the drugs you were trafficking in, had you been convicted after trial I would have taken a starting point of 20 years’ imprisonment. As you had brought these drugs into Hong Kong, that calls for enhancement of your sentence. According to Chung Ping Kun CACC 85/2014, I shall enhance that amount by one year’s imprisonment. That would make a total term of 21 years’ imprisonment had you been convicted after trial.

As mentioned earlier, your strongest mitigating factor is your plea of guilty and a one-third discount will be credited for that plea. You shall be sentenced to a term of 14 years’ imprisonment.