Court upholds 30-year jail term for 6 in KLIA2 drug trafficking case
PETALING JAYA : The Court of Appeal today upheld the 30-year prison sentences imposed by the High Court on six people convicted of trafficking in 7.58kg of methamphetamine at the KLIA Terminal 2 (KLIA2) in 2018.
Bernama reported that a three-judge panel consisting of Justices Che Ruzima Ghazali, Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Azmi Ariffin ruled that the appeal had no merit.
The court also affirmed the High Court's decision to impose 15 strokes of the cane on Low Wei Ryh, 33, Mak Kwong Ming, 48, Yap Fook Chen, 31, Joon Zheng Han, 28, and two others who were teenagers at the time of their arrest.
Ruzima, delivering the unanimous verdict, said the trial judge made no error in inferring that the appellants knew they were carrying prohibited drugs, based on their own cautioned statements.
'The defence of (being) innocent carriers does not favour the appellants. They failed to make sufficient inquiries about the items, as required by law,' he said.
The court also rejected a request from the appellants to reduce the number of strokes from 15 to 12.
According to the facts of the case, the drugs were strapped to the appellants' thighs and hidden inside the soles of their shoes when they were arrested by auxiliary police at the airport during a security screening.
The appellants, in their defence, claimed they had accepted part-time job offers from a man known only as 'The Company' to deliver packages to South Korea.
They were told the items were not dangerous drugs but were gym supplements, or clenbuterol, which is banned in South Korea.
In July last year, the High Court convicted them of trafficking in the drugs at the Narcotics Crime Investigation Division office, KLIA2, on Aug 11, 2018. They were sentenced to 30 years in prison and 15 strokes of the cane each.
In today's proceedings at the Court of Appeal, lawyers Kitson Foong and Chew Jee San represented the two unnamed teenagers, while Izwan Ishak acted for Yap. Lawyer Ahmad Ishrakh Saad represented Joon while lawyer Goh Cia Yee represented Low and Mak.
Deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz appeared for the prosecution.
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