KUCHING: The Magistrates’ Court here sentenced a 53-year-old man to a total of 14 months in jail for drug possession and drug abuse in 2012 and 2015.
Magistrate Nursyaheeqa Nazwa Radzali meted out the sentence against the accused Ma Chung Chiu after he pleaded guilty to the charges framed under Section 12(3) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and Section 15(1)(a) of the same Act.
She also ordered the sentences to run concurrently from today (Dec 1) and the accused has to undergo two years of police surveillance after serving his term.
According to the first charge, the accused was in possession of a prohibited substance in a room at a prominent hotel at Jalan Tun Razak around 12.25pm on Sept 4, 2012.
Therefore, the accused is charged in accordance with Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and read together with Section 12(3) of the same Act, which carries a fine up to RM100,000 or a jail term of up to five years or both, if convicted.
Hence, the court sentenced the accused to eight months in jail.
According to the facts of the case, a Kuching narcotic police team raided a room at the hotel on Sept 4, 2012 and arrested a man on suspicion of being involved in drug abuse activities.
Inspections led to the finding of a small box and inside it were two plastic packets containing crystalline substance believed to be syabu.
During the investigation period, the case items were sent to the Malaysian Chemical Department and they confirmed that the substance was a methamphetamine type drug weighing 0.28g.
For the second charge, the court sentenced the accused to six months in jail after he was tested positive for drugs during a test conducted at Kuching narcotic office around 4pm on Apr 9, 2015.
For the offence, the accused was charged under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries a fine of up to RM5,000 or a jail term of up to two years, if convicted.
Insp Merylene Lindan Andrew Mang prosecuted while the accused was unrepresented by a counsel.
