KANGAR: A Thai man was charged at the Magistrate’s Court here today with trafficking 2,987 grammes of cannabis at the Bukit Ketri Railway Station near Padang Besar on June 11.
However, no plea was recorded from the accused, Mahmud Chaidilok, 21, who nodded in understanding after the charge was read out by the court interpreter before Magistrate Nurshahida Abdul Rahim.
According to the charge, the man is accused of trafficking the drugs at the railway station at around 9.40 pm on June 11.
Mahmud is charged under Section 39B(1)(A) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and is punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act, which carries the mandatory death penalty or life imprisonment, along with not less than 12 strokes of the cane if not sentenced to death.
The court did not allow the Thai national to be released on bail as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
Meanwhile, in the same court, the accused pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of self-administering a dangerous drug, methamphetamine, at the Narcotics Criminal Investigation Division Office of the Padang Besar District Police Headquarters (IPD) at 4 am on June 12.
He was charged under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and is liable to punishment under Section 15(1) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum of two years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to RM5,000, or both, upon conviction.
The court ruled that the accused be remanded without bail and set Sept 30 for the next case mention
The prosecution was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Natasha Azmi while the accused was unrepresented.
