Kota Kinabalu: Two men were each sentenced to eight years in jail and ordered given 10 strokes of the cane by the High Court here for having 301.78gm of cannabis.
Jerry Pamo, 42, and Afzanizam Noor Khalil, 47, pleaded guilty before Judge Alexander Siew to the alternative charge of jointly having the Cannabis at 10.20am on May 7, 2021 at the car park of Bataras Superstore, Keningau.
The alternative charge was offered by the prosecution to both men, following the acceptance of their representation letter by the prosecution.
The charge under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39A(2) of the same Act carries an imprisonment for life or a jail term of not less than five years and whipping of not less than 10 strokes, on conviction.
The duo were originally charged with trafficking the drugs under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) 1952 which carries a punishment of either the death penalty or life imprisonment and whipping with a minimum of 15 strokes, on conviction.
They had on July 29, 2022, claimed trial to the original charge.
Earlier, in presenting the facts of the case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Afiq Agoes, informed the court that the raiding police, acting on information regarding drug-related activity in the area, had been monitoring the location for about 35 minutes and observed a Proton Wira entering the parking lot of the superstore.
The police saw a man, later identified as Jerry, in the front passenger seat holding a white plastic bag in his right hand.
The police immediately approached him who was seen throwing the plastic bag onto the road and attempting to flee.
However, the police apprehended him.
Jerry then retrieved the plastic bag and handed it to the police, who discovered a box containing two transparent plastic bags, each containing compressed dry plant material suspected to be cannabis.
The police seized the exhibit and arrested the car driver, Afzanizam, for further investigation.
A chemist’s report from the Chemistry Department confirmed that each of the two plastic bags contained a net weight of 150.60g and 151.18g of cannabis.
The court ordered Jerry and Afzanizam, who had been in remand since their arrest, to serve their sentences from the date of their detention.
Jerry was represented by counsel Shahlan Jufri and Luqman Syazwan Zabidi Mohd while Afzanizam was represented by counsel Hairul V. Othman.
