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A 22-year-old man was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment after he was found guilty of trafficking in dangerous drugs at the Court of First Instance today (August 30).
The court heard that on October 31, 2004, the 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were intercepted by officers of Narcotics Bureau when they were leaving a unit on Ash Street in Tai Kok Tsui. Upon searching, 28.2 grams of a powder containing paracetamol and 1.36 grams of a powder containing 0.26 grams of drugs were found in the possession of the woman respectively.
A subsequent search in their unit had led a further seizure of 19 040 tablets of Erimin 5, 1 673 tablets of Ecstasy containing Ice substance as well as 1.72 kilograms of a powder containing 0.81 kilograms of Erimin 5. Some drug packaging paraphernalia, including large quantity of plastic bags and electronics scale were also seized in the flat.
Another search in a unit in 300-306 Nathan Road in Yau Ma Tei also resulted in the seizure of 51 389 tablets of Erimin 5 and 27 106 tablets of Ecstasy containing Ice substance.
The man was subsequently charged with trafficking in dangerous drugs and trafficking in purported dangerous drugs. The sentence was meted out at the Court of First Instance today.
On the other hand, the 20-year-old woman was sentenced to two months¡¦ imprisonment for possession of dangerous drugs. Since she had been detained for over five months before being granted bail, she was allowed an immediate release.
Police reiterate that drug trafficking is a serious offence and offenders may be liable to a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Police will spare no efforts in cracking down such illegal activities in future.
Police Report No. 13
Ends/Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Issued at HKT 17:22
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