A CHINESE seaman who was caught delivering 2.5 kilograms of heroin to a Hong Kong buyer was yesterday sentenced to 20 years' jail by the High Court.
Handing down the penalty on a weeping Lam Hon-por, Deputy Judge Beeson pointed out that the maximum sentence for the offence was life imprisonment.
The judge said that while accepting that Lam only acted as a courier and that there was no evidence to show that he had made a large profit, the amount of drug was substantial and the trade could not exist without a simple cog in the wheel.
Lam, 43, had denied a charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug but was found guilty after trial by a jury.
A second defendant, Hui Lam-chuen, had earlier pleaded guilty to the offence and had been jailed for 16 years in February.
During Lam's trial, the court heard evidence called by prosecutor Andrew Allman-Brown that Customs officers on surveillance duty saw Lam coming ashore from a Chinese vessel at about 7.30 pm on October 22.