Tan leaves the courtroom following sentencing.
KUCHING (April 27): The High Court here today sentenced a 48-year-old man to death for trafficking over 2.3 kg of methamphetamine four years ago.
After a full trial, Judge Azhahari Kamal Ramli convicted Tan Ming Ann under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and sentenced him under Subsection 39B (2) of the same Act.
He was charged with trafficking the drugs around 2pm on Feb 22, 2019, at a Jalan Datuk Abang Abdul Rahim courier office.
While giving his judgment, Azhahari said the court was of the opinion that the accused’s defence was mere denial and the characters named fictional.
“The accused was said to have been asked by a man known as ‘Monkey’ to pick up the package at the courier office.
“The accused also stated that ‘Monkey’ instructed him to take the package via phone call and send a picture of the consignment note via the WeChat application, however, the evidence was never submitted by the defence,” said Azhahari.
Based on Tan’s testimony during the trial, the judge said he failed to identify his relationship with ‘Monkey’ and even failed to remember the period of time he knew ‘Monkey’.
The investigation also found the telephone number Tan contacted belonged to someone else and not ‘Monkey’.
Azhahari said it was therefore difficult for the court to believe Tan’s version of the story and the defence did not submit confirmation of the identity of ‘Monkey’.
Based on the facts of the case, Tan was seen carrying a just-claimed parcel from the courier office counter when a Customs officer approached him.
He then threw the parcel away and tried to flee but the Customs Department raiding team managed to arrest him and seize the parcel, which was then brought to the Kuching Customs Narcotics Department for further investigation.
According to the chemist’s report, the parcel contained three plastic packets with methamphetamine weighing a total of 2,320.5 grammes.
During the trial, nine prosecution witnesses and two from the defence were called to testify.
Royal Malaysian Customs Department deputy public prosecutor Nabilah Ahmad Po’ad prosecuted the case while Tan was represented by counsels Daren Ling Hang Hui and Kenneth Yip.