ALOR SETAR: The High Court here yesterday sentenced a Thai woman to death by hanging after finding her guilty of drug trafficking two years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab meted out the sentence on Natcha Babkaew, 32, a food hawker.
Natcha was charged with trafficking 18,630 grammes of cannabis at a lane near the Bukit Kayu Hitam Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex at 1.35 pm on Nov 19, 2010.
Mohd Zaki said Natcha’s defence that she did not know that the bags she was carrying contained drugs was not credible as she was paid highly to deliver the bags.
“Generally, the accused did not deny she was carrying two bags from Bangkok which she had received from two African men for delivery to an African man in Changlun.
“Her claim that she did not know the contents of the bags so as to prove her innocence failed to create a reasonable doubt for the defence,” Mohd Zaki said.
Natcha, who suffers from a hole in the heart and has an eight-year-old child, was charged under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
DPP Mohd Radzi Shah Ab. Razak appeared for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) while Natcha was represented by Ai Cha Ran. — Bernama