Day in court: Tan (left) being brought to the Sessions Court in Johor Baru.
JOHOR BARU: A Singaporean has been charged at a Sessions Court here with five counts of possessing and trafficking a total of 10.11kg of drugs last month.
Tan Ban Choon, 47, nodded his head yesterday after the charges were read to him in Mandarin before judge Mohammad Khalid Ab Karim.
No plea was recorded as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
According to the charge sheets, Tan, who is unemployed, was accused of trafficking 10,024g of powdered 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
The charge under Section 39B(1)(A) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act, carries the death penalty or life imprisonment, with a minimum of 15 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
In the same court, the accused also faced four other charges of possessing drugs, namely 9g of heroin, 44g of cannabis, 6g of powdered MDMA and 31.3g of ketamine.
All the offences took place at an apartment unit in Danga Bay at around 10pm on April 23.
The charges on drug possession came under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
Upon conviction, offenders face a fine not exceeding RM100,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
Another charge was made under Section 6 of the Act, which could lead a jail term of two to five years, along with three to nine strokes of the cane.
Mohammad Khalid, who did not grant bail, set the case for mention on July 29 pending a chemist’s report.
In an unrelated case in the same court, a businessman was charged with three counts of trafficking and possessing over 10kg of drugs.
Yean Wei Zhen, 34, nodded his head after all the charges were read in Mandarin before Mohammad Khalid.
No plea was recorded as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
According to the charge sheet, Yean is accused of trafficking 9.9097kg of powdered MDMA.
The offence was allegedly committed at 2.45pm on April 23 by a roadside at Taman Mengkibol in Kluang. The charge is framed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
Yean also faced two additional charges of possessing 185.8g of ketamine and 78.3g of nimetazepam at the same time and location.
No bail was given and Mohammad Khalid set July 7 as the case’s next mention pending a chemist’s report.
