The court determined that possession and knowledge of drugs are required for conviction under drug trafficking laws, emphasizing that mere passive possession does not fulfill trafficking criteria.

YEOH WEE SIAM, JC

JUDGMENT

THE 2 CHARGES

Liakat Ali Bin Baddar Din (“the Accused”) was charged in 2 cases as follows:

Case No. 45-30-2005

“Bahawa kamu pada 9 Jun 2004 jam lebih kurang 6.15 petang di alamat G-8-16, Pangsapuri Puchong Permata 2, Puchong di dalam Daerah Petaling, di dalam Negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan, telah memperedarkan dadah berbahaya sejumlah berat 269.66 gram Cannabis dan oleh yang demikian, kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan di bawah seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 dan boleh dihukum di bawah seksyen 39B(2) Akta yang sama.”.

Case No. 45-47-2005

“Bahawa kamu pada 9 Jun 2004 jam lebih kurang 6.00 petang di tepi Jalan Puchong Permata Satu, Pangsapuri Puchong, di dalam Daerah Petaling, di dalam Negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan, telah memperedarkan dadah berbahaya sejumlah berat 1797 gram Cannabis dan oleh yang demikian, kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan di bawah seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 dan boleh dihukum di bawah seksyen 39B(2) Akta yang sama.”.

The above offences of drug trafficking carry a mandatory death penalty.

EVIDENCE ADDUCED BY THE PROSECUTION

The Prosecution called altogether 10 witnesses to give evidence.

The evidence adduced by the Prosecution is as follows:

On 9.6.2004, C/Insp. Mohd. Husni Bin Manaf (SP5) and 9 other Police officers conducted an operation in the Puchong apartment area in Selangor.

During the operation, SP5 and his team detained a taxi i.e. a black Proton Iswara bearing registration no. HWB 7874 (“the taxi”) by the roadside of Jalan Permata Satu, Puchong. The Accused was then sitting in the driver’s seat in the taxi. SP5 identified himself as a Police officer to the Accused and opened the driver’s door of the taxi. He switched off the engine of the taxi and seized the taxi keys. He then gave a verbal caution to the Accused under s.37A(1)(b) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (“the Act”).

Upon being shown by the Accused, and witnessed by the Police officers, SP5 examined the boot of the taxi and found a black plastic bag (P20) containing 2 compressed slabs of dried leaves suspected to be ganja, which SP5 marked as A1 and A2 (P21A and P22A), in the spare tyre compartment. SP5 stated that when the boot was opened, the black plastic bag could not be seen since it was covered by a board. SP5 and his team did not find anything else in the taxi. SP5 stated that A1 was wrapped in a clear plastic sheet and tied with a green rafia string; A2 was wrapped in an aluminium foil.

After that, SP5 informed the Accused of the offence committed and arrested him and seized the exhibits.

Later, the Accused brought SP5 and his team to his house, at the Permata 2 Apartments in Puchong, infront of Permata 1 where the Accused had been arrested by the roadside. SP5 used 1 of the keys, from the same bunch as the taxi keys, to open the padlock for the grill of the Accused’s house at no. G-8-16, Puchong Permata 2 Apartments. After that, SP5 could easily open the wooden door which was closed but not locked.

Upon being shown by the Accused, SP5 and his team entered the apartment. They searched the Accused’s room [P4(8) and (9)] and found the following:

(1) 1 plastic container with an orange cover with the words,MUNCHY’s (A1, P24). Inside, it contained a plastic bag with the words, BETTAS (P25B). Inside the plastic bag were 2 compressed slabs of dried leaves suspected to be ganja (A1, P25A); and (2) 1 plastic container with a blue cover (P26). Inside, itcontained 1 compressed slab of dried leaves and someloose dried leaves, all suspected to be ganja (A2, P27A).SP5 seized the items in(1) and (2) above together with a tenancy agreement (P38), and 1 Lembaga Tabung Haji account book under the Accused’s name (P37).

SP5 confirmed that the 3 rooms in the Accused’s apartment were closed, but not locked, including the Accused’s room. SP5 was not sure whether the door to the Accused’s room