A High Profile Drug Case suspect in Johor is acquited.
Five (5) Suspect accuited of a drug trafficking charge after the "drugs" were found to be salt.
The Story
(1) The Suspect were alleged to have committed a preparatory act for trafficking 40.8kg of Ketamin on March 4 at 3.10pm at a house on Jalan Jingga 5, Taman Pelangi.
(2) Two had confessed to being involved with those responsible for the theft of the syabu from the Johor police headquarters on July 31.
(3) To date, 11 civilians and seven police personnel, including a probationary Inspector and a 29-year-old policewoman, have been arrested. The police personnel are still in custody -- four under the Special Preventive Measures and three for housebreaking.
(4)During the course of the investigations, Lance Corporal Morne Ali Amat, was found dead with a gun shot wound to the side of his head in an oil palm plantation near Setia Indah on August 10. It was reported that police were trying to contact him to have his statement recorded in connection with this case, when he was found dead. Police had classified that case as sudden death.
(5) Today 10 Sept 2008 - Five (5) Suspect accuited of a drug trafficking charge after the "drugs" were found to be salt
Malaysia Police Force could not diffentiate "DRUGS" with "SALT"Five (5) Suspect accuited of a drug trafficking charge after the "drugs" were found to be salt.
Related to this drug salt case :
10 August 2008
The case of the RM1 million drugs theft from the state police headquarters took a tragic twist yesterday when one of the policemen being investigated was found shot dead.
Lance Corporal Morne Ali Amat was found with a single bullet wound to the right side of the head at an oil palm plantation in Setia Indah, near here, at 11am yesterday.
NST reported on 18 Aug 2008
JOHOR BARU: A stroke of luck appears to have saved Johor police the blushes of losing 5kg of drugs in their custody.
And they have two policemen from the neighbouring state of Malacca to thank, after they stopped the two culprits in the theft for speeding.
The policemen nabbed the suspects after they attempted to bribe them with RM450 to escape a speeding ticket.
On searching the suspects' car, they found white powder, believed to be syabu in two small plastic containers, two bottles of a brown liquid also believed to be syabu and 67 Erimin 5 pills.
The suspects were arrested and on questioning, led police to an apartment in Taman Johor Jaya where they found brown liquid believed to be syabu and some drug processing equipment.
Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Shariff said they believed they have solved the case of the stolen syabu but he declined to elaborate how the two men were linked to the syndicate.
It is learnt that the two had confessed to being involved with those responsible for the theft of the syabu from the Johor police headquarters on July 31.
The two, aged 23 and 40, were flagged down at a roadblock at KM185 of the north-bound North-South Expressway near Jasin for speeding on Friday.
Mokhtar said they were arrested when they attempted to bribe the policemen manning the roadblock with RM450.
He said the suspects had previous records for drug-related offences.
"The liquid syabu was found in a Carlsberg beer bottle, a mineral water bottle and a 3-litre metal jerry can, along with a bottle of methylated spirit, a can of thinner and another of turpentine believed to be for processing the drug," Mokhtar said.
"The drugs have been sent to the Chemistry Department for analysis." He, however, could not say how much of the stolen syabu was recovered.
To date, 11 civilians and seven police personnel, including a probationary Inspector and a 29-year-old policewoman, have been arrested.
The police personnel are still in custody -- four under the Special Preventive Measures and three for housebreaking.
During the course of the investigations, Lance Corporal Morne Ali Amat, was found dead with a gun shot wound to the side of his head in an oil palm plantation near Setia Indah on August 10.
It was reported that police were trying to contact him to have his statement recorded in connection with this case, when he was found dead.
Police had classified that case as sudden death.
Mokhtar said following the theft of syabu from the evidence room at the state police headquarters, they had taken several measures to ensure that a similar incident would not recur.
While admitting the theft had marred police image, Mokhtar added that they had learnt from the incident and what was most important was that there was no cover-up in the investigations.
This, he said, was reflective of the fact that seven police personnel linked to the case were arrested.
"Those who committed criminal offences will be prosecuted while disciplinary action will be taken against those found to be in dereliction of duty,' he added.
The theft of the syabu caused red faces among Johor police as it occurred right under their noses.
The drugs, with a street value of RM1 million, was part of a RM48 million drug haul in May where 12 suspects of an international drug trafficking syndicate were nabbed.
NST reported the following on 11 August 2008
RM1 MILLION JOHOR POLICE HQ DRUGS THEFT: Policeman under probe found dead
The Star report 9 Sept 2008
JOHOR BARU: Five men, including two Mexicans and a Canadian, who were allegedly part of a major international drug syndicate were acquitted of a drug trafficking charge after the “drugs” were found to be salt.
Their freedom however was short-lived as, following the acquittal by a High Court here, the men were rearrested by the police under the Special Preventative Measures of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
Earlier in court, deputy public prosecutor Laila Lateh requested that the charge against the men be withdrawn as per instructions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
Ho Bee Seng, 53, and Tan Chwee Liang, 28, from Singapore, Jesus Alfonso, 36, and Gorge Enrique, 32, from Mexico and James Dugalo, 41, from Canada, were alleged to have committed a preparatory act for trafficking 40.8kg of Ketamin on March 4 at 3.10pm at a house on Jalan Jingga 5, Taman Pelangi.
When High Court Judicial Commissioner Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh asked for the reason behind the withdrawal, DPP Laila reiterated that she had instructions from Putrajaya.
At that point, Mohd Zawawi asked if this was the “salt case” upon which DPP Laila remained silent.
Defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo, who represented one of the men, Canadian James Dugalo, asked that the court not only discharge his client, but also acquit all the suspects.
He argued that under Section 254 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, if a DPP decided to withdraw or discontinue a case, the court has the capacity to discharge and acquit the suspects.
Gobind said that all the suspects had been in detention for seven months since March this year and they had also been charged with a serious capital offence, which ordered for a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
“It is not fair to leave that hanging over their heads. There is also no dispute that the substance of the subject matter is salt,” he said.
Mohd Zawawi agreed and said that the application was substantially grounded on the third reason as salt does not form a scheduled substance under the Dangerous Drugs Act.
He then ruled that the men be acquitted and that all their passports and belongings be returned to them.
Meanwhile, Johor Police Chief Dept Comm Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff when contacted confirmed that the men had been rearrested for 60 days under the Special Preventative Measures.
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