Labourer Freed Of Drug Trafficking Charges

KOTA BHARU, July 1 (Bernama) -- A labourer was acquitted and discharged by the High Court here today on two charges of trafficking in methamphetamine, weighing 39,367.27 grammes into the country.

Judge Mohd Rosli Yusoff ordered Amran Salleh, 53, to be freed at the end after finding that the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against him.

On the first count,  Amran was charged with trafficking methamphetamine, weighing 9,740.87 grammes at an unnumbered house in Kampung Jeram Perdah, Pasir Mas, at about 4.30 pm, on June 7, 2021.

For the second amended charge, he was charged with trafficking 2.9626.4 grammes of methamphetamine at the same location, time and date.

Both charges were brought under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and are punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same act, which provides for the death penalty or, in the absence of the death penalty, life imprisonment and not less than 15 strokes of the cane.

In the judgment, Mohd Rosli said the prosecution failed to prove that only the accused had access to the unnumbered house in Kampung Jeram Perdah, Pasir Mas, where the case items were found.

"The ownership and access control of the door of the house involved is not locked, and anyone can enter, and witnesses confirmed that the empty house was used as a transit point for illegal goods such as cooking oil before being smuggled to Thailand.

"Therefore, the court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case, so the accused is acquitted and discharged without having to enter his defence,” he said.

 The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Nik Nur Adila Mat Zaidan, while the accused was represented by lawyers Tengku Shazuan Tengku Shariffudin and Ahmad Nizam Mohamed.

-- BERNAMA