Public Prosecutor v Lee Kwee Siong and Another

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Tay Yong Kwang J
• Judgment Date: 21 July 2008
• Neutral Citation: [2008] SGHC 117
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Year: 2008
• Published date: 24 July 2008
• Plaintiff Counsel: Hay Hung Chun and Karen Ang (Deputy Public Prosecutor)
• Defendant Counsel: Ahmad Nizam Abbas (Straits Law Practice LLC) and Jeeva Joethy Arul (Bernard & Rada Law Corporation),Cheong Aik Chye (A C Cheong & Co) and Chong Thian Choy Gregory (Loo & Chong)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law,Evidence
• Citation: [2008] SGHC 117

21 July 2008

Tay Yong Kwang J:

Introduction

1 The first accused, Lee Kwee Siong, a Singaporean national, faced the following charge:

That you, … on the 7th day of May 2007, at or about 10.45p.m., at the corridor outside Block 181 Jelebu Road #11-06, Singapore, did traffic in a “Class A” controlled drug listed in the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act (Chapter 185), to wit, by having in your possession for the purpose of trafficking, two (02) packets of granular substance with a gross weight of 449.2 grams which was analysed to contain not less than 38.49 grams of diamorphine, without any authorisation under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Chapter 185) or the regulations made thereunder, and you have thereby committed an offence under section 5(1)(a) read with section 5(2) and punishable under section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

2 The second accused, Lee Siaw Foo, a Malaysian national, was alleged to have passed the two packets of the diamorphine (or heroin) in question to the first accused. He faced the following charge:

That you, … on the 7th day of May 2007, sometime between 10.35 p.m. and 10.45 p.m., at a staircase on the 9th floor of Block 181 Jelebu Road, Singapore, did traffic in a “Class A” controlled drug listed in the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act (Chapter 185), to wit, two (02) packets of granular substance with a gross weight of 449.2 grams which was analysed to contain not less than 38.49 grams of diamorphine, to wit, by handing the said two (02) packets of granular substance to one Lee Kwee Siong (NRIC No. S1529850B), without any authorisation under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Chapter 185) or the regulations made thereunder, and you have thereby committed an offence under section 5(1)(a) and punishable under section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

3 Having considered the evidence and the submissions given by the prosecution and the defence, I was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the charges were made out and convicted the first accused and the second accused accordingly.

Facts of the case

4 On the evening of 7 May 2007, intelligence officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (“CNB’) conducted operations in and around the vicinity of Block 181 Jelebu Road (“Block 181”) pursuant to information obtained on a possible drug transaction taking place there that evening between a Singaporean and his Malaysian supplier.

5 At about 10.35pm, a green Malaysian-registered Proton Saga vehicle with the registration number JGJ 1202 was spotted along Jelebu Road. The vehicle proceeded towards the direction of Block 181 and was seen entering Block 181A Jelebu Road (“Block 181A”), which was a multi-storey carpark located next to Block 181. The vehicle eventually parked at Deck 3 of Block 181A.

6 Subsequently, the second accused and one Yong Ket Wui (“Yong”), a Malaysian national, were seen alighting from the vehicle. They proceeded towards Block 181 and were seen entering the lift at the ground floor lift lobby. The second accused had a black “Nike” sling bag with him. Both the second accused and Yong were later seen coming out of the lift on the 9th floor of Block 181. There, the second accused passed a pink plastic bag with floral imprints (“the pink plastic bag”) to the first accused. In exchange, the first accused passed the second accused a packet containing $10,000 in Singapore currency. This transaction was not denied by both accused in their evidence.

7 After the transaction took place, the first accused was seen at the common corridor on the 11th floor of Block 181. He was seen carrying the pink plastic bag and walking towards unit #11-06. Before he could enter the unit, however, a team of CNB officers, who had been hiding at a stairwell, moved in and placed him under arrest. The pink plastic bag was seized and was found to contain the two packets, i.e., the heroin in question, one packet of a crystalline substance (which was later analysed by the HSA and found to contain not less than 83.40 grams of ketamine), and 410 tablets of Erimin-5.

8 After arresting the first accused, the CNB officers proceeded to raid unit #11-06. The CNB officers were able to gain entry after the first accused revealed the keys (from a bunch of keys which had been found in his possession) for the lock and the wooden door of the unit. The owner of the unit, one Lye Chee Hoong Mark (“Lye”), and his girlfriend, one Mavis Tay Su Ying (“Tay”), both of whom were found inside the unit, were placed under arrest.

9 In the unit, the CNB officers came across a room with a locked door. This room was later established to be rented by the first accused from Lye. The first accused initially refused to allow the CNB officers to have entry to the room. Upon looking under the door to the room, one of the CNB officers saw smoke and this led to the CNB officers trying to forcefully gain entry into the room. Their attempts were unsuccessful, however, and they eventually only managed to gain entry by using a key which was found in the possession of the first accused (this being from the same bunch of keys which had the keys to the lock and wooden door of the unit). Once inside, the CNB officers saw fire on a rack near the window. The fire was immediately put out. None of the CNB officers could later give a conclusive opinion on the source of the fire. A search of the room was subsequently conducted. Numerous items, including substances which were later found to be controlled drugs (3.09 grams of diamorphine in several packets and straws, 38.58 grams of ketamine in several packets, 25.79 grams of Ice in several packets, 33 tablets of Ecstasy and 320 tablets of Erimin-5) and other drug-related paraphernalia were found and seized. In addition, cash amounting to $24,511 in Singapore currency, one DBS ATM card, and one UOB ATM card were found and seized.

10 At about the same time as the arrest of the first accused, another team of CNB officers, who were in position at the lift lobby at the ground floor of Block 181, placed both the second accused and Yong under arrest as they were about to step out of the lift. The packet containing $10,000 in Singapore currency was found and seized by the CNB officers. In addition, a tablet of Erimin-5 was found in the coin pocket of the second accused’s jeans and was seized.

11 At about 10.50pm, the second accused and Yong were escorted to Deck 3 of Block 181A. In the presence of the second accused and Yong, a search was conducted on the vehicle JGJ 1202. At about 11.15pm, some packets were found in the gear box compartment of the vehicle. The contents of the packets were later ascertained to include 24.14 grams of ketamine in 24 small sachets, 35 tablets of Ecstacy, and 14 tablets of Erimin-5. These packets were extracted from the vehicle after it had been brought back to CNB Headquarters.

12 Both the first accused and the second accused, together with Yong, Lye and Tay, were brought back to CNB headquarters where they were investigated for drug offences. The first accused and second accused were eventually charged for drug trafficking. Yong initially faced a joint trafficking charge with the second accused but was eventually granted a discharge not amounting to acquittal. Lye was charged and convicted of the offences of possession and consumption of drugs and Tay was referred to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre for treatment after testing positive for the consumption of drugs upon her arrest.

Statements

13 The prosecution’s evidence, in the main, consisted of the testimony of the CNB officers involved in the operations on 7 May 2007 and that of the doctors who attended to the first accused in the course of investigations, an oral statement made by the second accused to Staff Sergeant Jory Lim (“SSgt Lim”) and the statements made by the first accused and the second accused to Assistant Superintendent Herman Hamli (“the IO”), the CNB Investigating Officer (who had resigned from the CNB in February 2008). The admissibility of the statements was not challenged and all of the statements were duly admitted into evidence.

Statements made by the first accused

Cautioned statement

14 On 11 May 2007, the IO recorded a cautioned statement from the first accused pursuant to s 122(6) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 85, 1985 Rev Ed), with the assistance of an interpreter, Mr Kam Kan Hing (“Mr Kam”), as the first accused chose to speak in Hokkien. In the cautioned statement, the first accused stated:

I have nothing to say to this charge. All the stuff was for my own consumption. I got nothing more to say.

Investigation statement dated 13 May 2007

15 On 13 May 2007, the IO recorded an investigation statement from the first accused with the assistance of Mr Kam. In the statement, the first accused stated that his true place of residence was a rented apartment at Jalan Minyak, for which he paid close to $100 a month in rental. His other monthly expenses would include about $200 for his father’s medical fees (to which his wife would contribute about $100), $50 for light and water, $300 for all telephone bills (including three mobile phones and one land line), $300 to $400 for provisions (to which his wife would contribute about $100).

16 The first accused also stated that in addition to the apartment, he rented a room at #11-06 (the room referred to earlier) for about $300 to $400 a month from Lye mainly for the purpose of consuming drugs, as Lye had no drug records. He would share the bill for water and lights with Lye and this would come out to about $200 per person.

17 The first accused stated that he did not have a regular job but was an odd job worker doing jobs such as sweeping roads and being a petrol pump attendant. His last job was as a cleaner at a condominium, for which he would work from 9am to past 3pm for six days a week, and for which he was paid about $1,000 a month. This job was recommended by a friend and he worked at this job from March 2007 to the beginning of May 2007....