Updated: 08/06/2013 06:02 | By Channel NewsAsia
Man convicted of importing heroin into Singapore
SINGAPORE: A 65-year-old man was convicted in the High Court on Monday of importing at least 94.96g of heroin into Singapore and could face the death penalty.
Chum Tat Suan, a bookie and amulets vendor, was found with a black bag containing the drug during a routine check at Woodlands Checkpoint on Jan 15, 2010.
He had taken a Malaysian taxi from Johor Baru to Singapore. The bag was in the boot of a taxi and the drug was found in a hidden compartment at its base.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Choo Han Teck said Chum's defence that the bag did not belong to him and that he did not know it contained heroin, was "poor".
Chum had claimed he had gone to Johor Baru and met a friend who took him to Long Yau, Taman Iskandar, to gamble. He claimed he had brought a blue cloth bag and took the wrong bag when he left.
But Justice Choo was "not convinced" Chum could mistake the blue cloth bag for a black PVC one. He noted that Chum could not explain why he did not tell officers at Woodlands Checkpoint and those recording his statement that the bag did not belong to him.
Chum's DNA was found on some of the 10 bundles of heroin seized from the black bag. His lawyers, Mr Manoj Nandwani and Mr Eric Liew, had said this could be due to contamination and transference of the DNA by accident, but the judge felt "it was merely a hypothesis that was neither supported by scientific or factual evidence".
Chum is likely to be sentenced on Sept 30. For importing over 15g of diamorphine, or heroin, he faces the death penalty, but could get a reprieve under amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act, which took effect this year - if he is proven to be merely a courier and certified to have substantively assisted the authorities in disrupting drug trafficking activities within or outside Singapore.
The courier can also be spared the death sentence in view of mental disability. - CNA/de
