A 16-year-old boy was sentenced to four years and nine months imprisonment in Hong Kong for trafficking drug by the city's Court of First Instance Tuesday.

The defendant, whose name was not disclosed by the court for privacy protection reason, was charged with trafficking in dangerous drugs on Oct. 26, 2005. He pleaded guilty to the charge on February 17 and was sentenced to four years and nine months Tuesday.

Acting on intelligence, officers of Hong Kong Police Narcotics Bureau intercepted the 16-year-old boy outside a hotel in Yau Ma Tei area of the Kowloon District shortly before 9:30 AM on October 25 last year.

Upon searches, police officers found five packets containing 130 grams of a mixture containing 60 grams of heroin hydrochloride tucking inside his right sock.

Investigations disclosed that the boy carried the drug for a reward of 4,000 HK dollars (about US$516). The haul could fetch more than 43,000 HK dollars (US$5,548) in the retail market, according to the police.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)