Public Prosecutor v Ko Mun Cheung and Another

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Chan Sek Keong J
• Judgment Date: 15 March 1990
• Neutral Citation: [1990] SGHC 18
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 17 of 1988
• Date: 15 March 1990
• Year: 1990
• Published date: 19 September 2003
• Plaintiff Counsel: Seng Kwang Boon (Deputy Public Prosecutor)
• Citation: [1990] SGHC 18
• Defendant Counsel: S Rajagopal (Shan Rajagopal),Tan Kay Bin (Tan Kay Bin & Co)
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Subject Matter: s 122(6) Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68),ss 7, 18(2), 33 & First Schedule Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185),Controlled drugs,s 2 Interpretation Act (Cap 353),Words and Phrases,s 7 Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185),Whether bringing into Singapore on the way to ultimate destination was 'importing',Criminal Law,Trafficking,'Importing',Standard of proof,Whether accused knew that he was carrying controlled drugs on his person,Discharging presumption under s 18(2) of Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185),s 5(1) Narcotic Control Act 1960-61 [Canada],Possession,Importing

Cur Adv Vult

You, Ko Mun Cheung, Raymond, are charged as follows:

That you on or about December 1986, at about 2.20pm at the Arrival Hall of the Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore, did import into Singapore a controlled drug specified in Class `A` of the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185) to wit, 16 packets of drug containing not less than 1,133.46g of diamorphine without any authorization under the said Act or the regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under s 7 and punishable under s 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

You, An Man Keny Chiu Sum Hing, are charged as follows:

That you on or about 12 December 1986, at about 2.20pm, at the Arrival Hall of the Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore, did import into Singapore a controlled drug specified in Class `A` of the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185) to wit, 16 packets of drug containing not less than 1,127.93g of diamorphine without any authorization under the said Act or the regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under s 7 and punishable under s 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The evidence that has been adduced by the prosecution shows that both of you, who are Hong Kong nationals, boarded a Thai International Airways flight no TG 405 from Bangkok on 12 December 1986 and arrived at Changi International Airport, Singapore at about 2pm. After disembarkation, both of you were cleared through the Singapore immigration checkpoints at the airport. Both of you then proceeded to the customs checkpoint.

You, Ko, followed by AMK, proceeded to the customs checkpoint located next to Belt 21. Each of you was carrying two bags. You, Ko, were cleared by customs and you then walked out into the arrival hall where you were arrested by N/O Chew Khai Chow (PW6).

You, AMK, proceeded to Counter 20 which was opposite Belt 21. You were stopped by C/O Ahmad bin Ali (PW5). He asked you in English whether you had anything to declare. You remained silent. He asked you again, and this time you replied in English that you had nothing to declare. He then asked you for your passport which you produced. Your passport no was 898857. At that moment, two CNB officers approached the said counter, identified themselves and arrested you. The N/Os were Yip Yat Choi and Tan Wu Chyuan. At about that time, you, Ko, were also brought to the said counter by PW6.

Both of you were then brought by the N/Os to the customs search room. There, both of you were searched. You, Ko, were asked by PW6 whether you had anything to declare. You did not reply. PW6 then searched your bags. He then told you to take off your clothes, whereupon, you told him that you had something on your body. PW6 asked you what it was and you replied that it was something your friend has requested you to carry to Singapore. PW6 did not ask you what the things were. He then told you to take off your shirt, which you did. Underneath the shirt was another white T-shirt which was covering a body vest strapped to your body. PW6 felt the vest and felt something bulky concealed in the vest. You were told to dress and then handcuffed.

You, AMK, were also told to bring your bags into the customs search room by PW6. You then told PW6 in Cantonese that there was no need to search you and that the `things` were on your body. You then touched your chest with both your hands. You were then asked what the things on your body were and you replied `Pak Fun` (which is the Cantonese expression for heroin or diamorphine). You were then told to take off your clothes. PW6 also ascertained that you were dressed similarly like Ko. PW6 also felt your vest and felt something bulky contained in the vest. You were told to dress and then handcuffed.

After the body search, both of you were taken by car to the CNB headquarters. On the way, PW6 learnt that there was a contact man who, if he did not meet you at the airport, would look for you at Apollo Hotel at Havelock Road. The contact man, who was Ho Pak Keung, also a Hong Kong national, but known to you as `Ah Mun` was subsequently arrested by N/Os at Apollo Hotel. The documents seized from him showed that he had booked air tickets for both of you to fly to Amsterdam. Both of you were subsequently able to identify Ah Mun at two identification parades conducted by the CNB officers.

On arrival at the CNB office at about 3.30pm, both of you with your vests containing the bulky substance were handed over to N/O Lee Kiong Lock. He then directed that photographs be taken of both of you in three stages of dressing and also the vests, each containing 16 packets of a white substance wrapped in plastic material. N/O Lee then weighed the 32 packets in your presence and found that each packet weighed approximately 120g. He then sealed and marked the said packets in two lots of 16 packets as LKL-A1-16 (seized from Ko) and LKL-B1-16 (seized from AMK). Urine samples were also taken from both of you. Subsequently, on 15 December 1986, N/O Lee handed the said 32 packets to Dr Chow Shui Tse, the principal scientific officer at the Department of Scientific Services, for analysis. Dr Chow found, upon analysis, that the 16 packets marked LKL-A1-16 contained a total weight of not less than 1,133.46g of diamorphine and that the 16 packets marked LKL-B1-16 contained a total weight of not less than 1,127.93g of diamorphine. Diamorphine is a Class `A` controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185) (the Act).

At about 7.10pm on the same day, SNO Jamaluddin (PW7) proceeded to take a statement from you, Ko, pursuant to s 122(6) of the CPC. You elected to speak in Cantonese. A certificated interpreter, Wu Nan Yong (PW8), was present to interpret. He interpreted to you in Cantonese the charge under s 7 of the Act and the notice of warning both of which were read out in English by PW7. You were then invited to make a statement. You then made a voluntary statement which was recorded down by PW7 which was signed by you and Wu and PW7. All other statutory requirements in relation to the taking and the making of your statement were complied with.

You, AMK, also gave a s 122(6) statement to PW7 at about 7.55pm, ie immediately after Ko had given his statement. You also elected to speak in Cantonese and Wu Nan Yong was the interpreter. Again, PW7 followed the same procedure as in the case of Ko. You also made a voluntary statement which was signed by you, Wu and PW7.

As neither of you has challenged the admissibility of your statements, we admitted them in evidence. You, Ko, made the following statement:

I owed one Ah Lock, a Hong Kong resident HK$5,000. He then pressurized me to repay the money I owed him. I told him that I have no money but Ah Lock suggested that I helped his friend to bring something to Holland and I will be paid HK$45,000. I agreed to help and I asked Ah Lock what was this thing I was to carry. Ah Lock told me that this thing is prohibited and if

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