Call for more lenient sentences for 'tricked' elderly drug mules intercepted in Hong Kong
Call for law to be reviewed following surge in cases of older people being exploited or tricked into carrying drugs for trafficking syndicates
The increasing use of elderly drug mules by crime syndicates has prompted calls for authorities to reassess Hong Kong's harsh sentencing guidelines.
The law should be updated to take greater account of mitigating circumstances as typically these elderly people are tricked or coerced into cooperation and are not kingpins in the trade, campaigners say.
Following a spate of cases last year, customs officials recently revealed how crime syndicates were now using inheritance scams as a way to trick elderly foreigners - some as old as 82 - into transporting narcotics.
One foreign mule told the he was brought to Hong Kong, all expenses paid, by a group purporting to be handling an inheritance settlement.
He was given documents to lodge with his bank back home and asked to take a suitcase allegedly containing gifts with him. The luggage was later found by customs officers at the airport to contain packages of the illegal stimulant crystal meth.
Watch: Six alleged drug smugglers cleared of charges in Hong Kong
According to Albert Ho Shi-king, customs assistant commissioner for intelligence and investigation, 10 such visitors aged between 45 and 82 were intercepted at Chek Lap Kok as they prepared to leave last year.
Hong Kong's drug laws are notoriously strict and individual mules can receive sentences of more than 20 years, despite their low-level involvement.
Some mules, particularly those from Latin America, often claim to be forced into moving the narcotics by drug cartels who threaten their families.
"The law doesn't take enough consideration of mitigating circumstances," said John Wotherspoon, a prison chaplain in daily contact with inmates. "There is a real need for the law to be updated so as to befit a modern society," he said.
The situation in Hong Kong appears particularly draconian compared with other developed jurisdictions.
A recent case in Australia saw a 53-year-old Hong Kong woman - the wife of a police superintendent - released from jail after the courts ruled her to be no more than a patsy in a crystal meth smuggling operation.
The woman said she was tricked into the job as a way to make "quick money" to pay heavy mahjong debts.
Another case involved an elderly Australian couple who travelled to Canada after being told they had won a free holiday and new luggage.
Upon their return, officers in Perth found 7kg of meth in the suitcases, but released the couple because they were not willingly involved in the scheme.
A Hong Kong police spokesperson said the force took "stringent enforcement action against all ... illicit drug-trafficking". "Courts will also take into account the roles of defendants and impose appropriate sentences with reference to the sentencing guidelines and the circumstances of individual cases," the spokesperson said.
The Security Bureau, which oversees the city's policies on drugs, said it agreed with the police comments.
