A NEPALESE tourist who swallowed a huge quantity of heroin in an attempt to bring it into the territory was yesterday jailed for 13 years.
Crown Counsel Alan Lucas told the High Court that Dipak Bahadur Tamang, 24, was searched by customs officers when he arrived at Kai Tak from Manila on April 10.
Two slabs of heroin were found in the insoles of his shoes and he later discharged 87 pellets from his body, containing a total of 528 grams of salts of esters of morphine.
Defence counsel Kevin Chan said Tamang had risked his life by swallowing a huge quantity of drugs. He said he had been co-operative and had offered to give evidence against another Nepalese man travelling on the same flight.
He had admitted trafficking from the start and said he had done it because he earned only US$200 (about HK$1,540) a month and was promised US$500 for taking the drugs to Chungking Mansions, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Deputy Judge Wong said he did not distinguish between the couriers and the men behind them who made huge profits. But he reduced the sentence from a starting point of 18 years because of Tamang's plea, co-operation and remorse.
