Illustrative photo of a drone.
SINGAPORE: A man has been found guilty of conspiring with others to import drugs after he instructed another person to pilot a drone from Singapore to Johor and it came back with a pouch of methamphetamine.
Following a trial on Thursday (Sept 4), a district court found Helmie Shahrezza Shahrom, 34, guilty for his part in the incident that took place at Kranji Reservoir Park in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to court documents, the Singaporean did not dispute that he had instructed Mohamad Shahrezza Mohammad Zuhri to pilot the drone to a beach in the vicinity of Pantai Lido in Johor. The device later returned with a pouch containing methamphetamine.
“(Helmie) claims, however, that he had no idea that the drugs had been attached to the drone until it arrived in Singapore,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Jotham Tay.
Singapore Police Force officers detected the drone in the airspace over the park at around 6pm on June 17, 2020. Helmie and Mohamad Shahrezza were caught at the location that day.
A third man, Mohamad Hasri Ab Rahim, who acted as a lookout, was arrested the next day.
A fourth man, identified as Mohammad Nazri Jumat, who was in Malaysia, had attached a black pouch containing the drug and Mohamad Shahrezza flew the device back to Singapore as instructed by Helmie.
As the drone was landing back in Kranji Reservoir Park, Hasri told Helmie that the police were nearby. Shortly before officers arrived at the scene, Helmie detached the pouch and threw it in some nearby bushes, said the prosecutor.
“The evidence is clear – Helmie was the person who had knowingly arranged for the drugs to be imported using the drone and coordinated the transaction in the first place,” said DPP Tay.
Court documents stated that when the Covid-19 restrictions began, Hasri had difficulty finding drug suppliers, and sought Helmie’s help in procuring narcotics for him.
“Around April or May 2020, when there were already Covid-19 restrictions in place, Helmie engaged (Mohamad Shahrezza) to fly drones during ‘operations’ that included bringing drugs from Malaysia into Singapore illegally.
“The ‘operations’ occurred two or three times a week at Kranji Reservoir Park,” DPP Tay said.
Shortly before the morning of June 17, 2020, Hasri placed an order for 125g of methamphetamine or “Ice” with Helmie, the court heard. According to court documents, Helmie provided Nazri with the location in Malaysia that Nazri had to go to, for the drugs to be attached to the drone.
The drug arrived at Kranji Reservoir Park on June 17, 2020, before police officers arrived at the scene in Singapore at around 6pm.
One of the officers saw the pouch containing a crystalline substance, later found to contain more than180g of methamphetamine.
Helmie, who is represented by lawyer Diana Foo, claimed that he had made an order for “Ice”, but this was supposed to be brought in on another occasion by boat, his usual modus operandi, rather than drone.
According to Helmi, he did not expect the drone to be carrying any drugs on June 17, 2020.
He will be sentenced at a later date. - The Straits Times/ANN
