A prima facie case requires clear, unbroken evidentiary chains to establish possession and trafficking of dangerous drugs; failures create reasonable doubt.

The Charges

[1] The accused was charged on 2 counts of trafficking in and possession of dangerous drugs in the following terms:

First Charge

"Bahawa kamu pada 20 April 2014 jam lebih kurang 6.10 petang, bertempat di hadapan rumah No 183, Lorong 7, Taman ACBE Bahau, dalam Daerah Jempol, dalam Negeri Sembilan, didapati mengedar dadah berbahaya mengandungi 229 gram dadah "Cannabis". Oleh itu kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan di bawah s 39B (1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 yang boleh dihukum di bawah s 39B (2) Akta yang sama."

Second Charge

"Bahawa kamu pada 20 April 2014 jam lebih kurang 6.10 petang, bertempat di hadapan rumah No 183, Lorong 7, Taman ACBE Bahau, dalam Daerah Jempol, dalam Negeri Sembilan, telah ada di dalam milik kamu dadah berbahaya mengandungi 0.78 gram dadah "Cannabis". Oleh itu kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan boleh dihukum di bawah s 6 Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952."

Case For The Prosecution

[2] On 20 April 2014 at approximately 5.45 pm, based on an information received, Detective Sub-Inspector Mustafa Ibrahim (PW3), leading a team of police officers, left Bahau Police Station in two vehicles for Taman ACBE, Bahau, Negeri Sembilan in search of a male Chinese driving a silver-coloured Nissan Cefiro bearing registration number PER 1835 in the said housing area. At about 6.10 pm, PW3 and his raiding team saw the suspect's car, the silver Nissan Cefiro stopped by the road side in front of a house at No 138, Lorong 7, Taman ACBE. The driver of the car, a male Chinese, was seen stepping off the car and heading towards the gate of the house. PW3 and his officers stopped their vehicles and approached the suspect, the accused in this appeal. After introducing himself as police officer, PW3 and his officers namely Sergeant Major Md Rosli Admin (PW4) and Detective Corporal Kamarudin Leman (PW2) conducted a body search on the suspect and recovered from the right front pocket of the suspect's trousers, a Dunhill cigarette packet (Exhibit P9A(i)(b)) from which PW3 found 6 cigarettes (Exhibit P9A(i)(b)(1-6)) suspected to contain cannabis. Subsequently, PW3 searched the boot of the car and found a red plastic bag underneath the boot's carpet. Upon further examination of the plastic bag, PW3 found two packages each tied with rubber bands. The first package contained a compressed slab which PW3 suspected to be cannabis wrapped in Chinese newspaper with 1 rubber band around it. The second package also contained a compressed slab which PW3 suspected to be cannabis wrapped in aluminium foil and sellotape and then wholly wrapped in Chinese newspaper with 2 rubber bands around it. The combined weight of these vegetative substances was 302 grammes.

[3] PW3 seized these substances together with a handphone (Exhibit P15), wallet (Exhibit P14), and cash of RM820.00 found on the accused's person. These seized items, the car and the accused were brought to Bahau Police Station. At around 9.30 pm, PW3 handed over the seized items, a police report (Exhibit P12), a search list (Exhibit P13) and the accused to the investigating officer namely Inspector Jamatul Akmar (PW6). PW6 thereupon made markings on the items handed over to her which she did by marking 'J' for the trousers, 'JJ' for the red plastic bag, 'JJ' for the Dunhill cigarette packet, 'J1-J6' for the 6 cigarettes, 'JJJJ' for 1 piece of news paper, 'JJJJJ' for 1 big compressed slab of cannabis and, 'JJJJJ' for 1 package. She subsequently placed the items into an envelope which she had sealed and kept it in her cabinet. On the next day, PW6 took the exhibits out again a