Five friends appeared in the Magistrate’s Court here today facing four separate charges of possessing and distributing cannabis, following a police raid two weeks ago.
For the first charge, three of the accused – Muhammad Khalis Abdul Kudus, 39; Amirul Din Abd Aziz, 44; and Mohd Firdaus Mohd Fodzi, 40 – were charged with jointly distributing 29.9 kilograms of cannabis in a parking area outside a house on Persiaran Sungai Gelugor 2 at 11:50 pm on 15 August. The charge was filed under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment with a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
The second charge involved Muhammad Khalis, an unemployed man, and Amirul Din, a fisherman, who were accused of distributing 16.2 kilograms of cannabis at a house on Persiaran Sungai Gelugor 2 at 12:50 am on 16 August, under the same act and penalties as the first charge.
No pleas were recorded as the charges fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court, presided over by Magistrate Siti Nurul Suhaila Baharin.
In a separate charge, Muhammad Khalis was also accused along with Mohd Ekmal Kamarudin, 47, and Azhar Omar, 57, of jointly possessing 43.91 grams of cannabis at a house on Persiaran Sungai Gelugor 2 at 11:30 pm on 15 August. This charge was filed under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries a penalty of two to five years’ imprisonment and up to nine strokes of the cane. Mohd Ekmal, a bank employee, and Azhar, a lorry driver, pleaded guilty, while Muhammad Khalis pleaded not guilty.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lau Shavin proposed bail of RM8,000 with one surety for Mohd Ekmal and Azhar pending the chemical analysis report, while their lawyer from the National Legal Aid Foundation requested a lower bail citing family responsibilities. Muhammad Asri Abdul Hamid, representing Muhammad Khalis, did not seek bail as his client is facing the two previous charges, which are non-bailable.
For the fourth charge, Amirul Din and Mohd Firdaus pleaded not guilty to jointly possessing 2.96 grams of cannabis at the same location at 11:40 pm on 15 August under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries a maximum fine of RM20,000 or up to five years’ imprisonment, or both.
The court set bail at RM3,000 with one surety for each accused, and all cases were adjourned to 12 November pending the chemical analysis report.
