Augustine Paul JCA:

The accused was originally charged with trafficking in 73.34 grammes of monoacetylmorphines under s. 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 ("the Act"). At the close of the case for the prosecution the charge was reduced to one under s. 12(2) read with s. 39A(2) of the Act. When he was found guilty of the amended charge he was convicted and sentenced to 16 years'imprisonment and whipping of 11 strokes. His appeal against conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal and he has now appealed to this court.

The facts of the case as summarised by the learned trial judge in his grounds of judgment read as follows:

Pada 23 September 1998 jam 8.25 malam, Inspektor Wan Azlan (SP1) dan 13 anggota polis yang lain, telah membuat serang hendap di hadapan Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Mun Chong, Batu 5, Jalan Ipoh Kuala Lumpur. SP1 telah nampak OKT membimbit satu beg plastik warna oren P11 di tangan kirinya dan berjalan menuju ke kereta No. JBW 2490. Pada masa itu SP1 berada pada jarak 10-15 meter daripada OKT. OKT berseorangan ketika itu. Tidak ada sesiapa pun di dalam kereta itu. SP1 dan D/L/Kpl. Fairuz Khan (SP3) terus menghampiri OKT den