Public Prosecutor v Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad and another

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Choo Han Teck J
• Judgment Date: 04 November 2015
• Neutral Citation: [2015] SGHC 288
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: Criminal Case No 14 of 2013
• Published date: 20 January 2017
• Year: 2015
• Hearing Date: 26 September 2013,19 October 2015,17 September 2013,19 September 2013,10 September 2013,02 November 2015,18 November 2013,26 October 2015,07 November 2013,24 September 2013,13 September 2013
• Plaintiff Counsel: Andre Darius Jumabhoy, Qiu Huixiang, and Kevin Tan Eu Shan (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Peter Keith Fernando (Leo Fernando) and Prasad s/o Karunakarn (K Prasad & Co),Ram Goswami (Ram Goswami)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law,Statutory offences,Misuse of Drugs Act
• Citation: [2015] SGHC 288

Choo Han Teck J:

The first accused (“Masoud”) is a 25 year-old Singaporean and was serving as a national serviceman when the offences were committed on 20 May 2010. The second accused (“Mogan”) is a 27 year-old Malaysian who was working as a forwarding agent in a company in Johor, Malaysia at that time. They were jointly tried on two charges each for offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed) (“the MDA”).

In respect of Masoud, the first charge against him was for possession of not less than 31.14g of diamorphine for the purposes of trafficking. The second charge was for possession of 77g of methamphetamine for the purposes of trafficking. Mogan’s first charge was for trafficking in not less than 14.99g of diamorphine in handing the said drugs to Masoud on 20 May 2010 between 8.30pm and 9pm. The second charge against him was for trafficking in 77g of methamphetamine by handing the said drugs to Masoud at the same time that he handed the diamorphine to Masoud.

The undisputed evidence was that on 20 May 2010 between 8.30pm and 9pm, Masoud drove a Mazda RX8 car with the licence plate number SGR 2475Y to the pick-up point at the Bishan Mass Rapid Transit station. He parked his car alongside the Malaysia-registered Proton Wira, bearing the licence plate number JGV 8436, driven by Mogan. Mogan got out of his car and boarded the Mazda RX8 car that Masoud was in. Mogan then handed over black bundle, with the marking “BISH” as well as some Chinese characters, to Masoud, who handed some money to Mogan in return. Shortly after, Mogan got back into his Proton Wira and drove off. Mogan and Masoud were subsequently intercepted by officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (“CNB”) at different locations and were arrested.

The packet that Mogan passed to Masoud was marked at trial as “A1”. It contained a packet of diamorphine weighing not less than 15.5g (later marked at trial as “A1A1A”) as well as two packets of methamphetamine which weighed a total of weighing 77g (later respectively marked at trial as “A1A1B1A” and “A1A1C1A”). In addition to “A1”, two bundles of diamorphine were found in a Mickey Mouse bag (marked at trial as “B1A”) in the locked backseat compartment of Masoud’s car, which was unlocked with a key that was in Masoud’s possession. Masoud initially denied that there was anything in the backseat of the vehicle. The two bundles found in the Mickey Mouse bag were haphazardly wrapped in paper and masking tape, with the contents of the bundles – granular or rocky substances – visible from the outside. The bundles were marked “B1A1A” and “B1A2A” and were found to contain diamorphine weighing 7.83g and 7.81g respectively. Masoud’s deoxyribonucleic acid was found on both sides of the tapes used to wrap B1A1. The total weight of diamorphine in A1, B1A1A and B1A2A in Masoud’s possession was 31.14g.

The CNB also recovered a notebook (marked at trial as “C1A”), three forged National Registration Identity Cards and two forged drivers’ licences from Masoud’s car. Following the recovery of the drugs, CNB officers conducted a search at his place of residence and found two stun guns in his master bedroom.

Masoud made two outright denials in his contemporaneous statements to the CNB. He claimed that in respect of A1, Mogan left it in his car without his knowledge and he realised the bundle was left in his car only after he had driven a distance. He further asserted that he did not know what the bundle contained. As for the Mickey Mouse bag (B1A) and the two bundles in it, Masoud’s initial defence was that he did not know who they belonged to or how they got into his car.

At trial, Masoud had a more elaborate defence. He testified that he worked as a driver for a person known only as “Arab”, who was the boyfriend of his step-sister. He thought that Arab might be an illegal moneylender because Arab had shown him a name card reflecting so. He stated that Arab inexplicably vanished in February 2010. Shortly after, Arab’s boss, named “Ah Kiat”, contacted him and asked him to work for an unlicensed moneylending syndicate which operated in Malaysia and Singapore. Masoud’s job was to collect money from debtors and hand them to a person called “Alf”. The money would be wrapped in bundles and delivered by persons who would identify themselves using code names such as “Jay” or “Joke”. Masoud testified that he was paid $150 a day for this job. He made the trips in a car that he had rented with a forged driving licence (which was the Mazda RX8 that he was arrested in). He said that after delivering the money to Alf, Alf would open the bundles before him and count the money before instructing Masoud on where the bundles should be sent to.

According to Masoud, Alf instructed him on 20 May 2010 to collect money from “Joke”, who, as it turned out, was Mogan. He testified that he had collected bundles containing money from Mogan on previous occasions and that he expected the bundle (A1) to contain money and not drugs. He explained that he gave Mogan $40 because he did not purchase the mobile phone top-up card that he was instructed to get for Mogan.

As for the bundles in the Mickey Mouse bag (B1A), Masoud claimed that they were placed in the car by Alf. He claimed that he met Alf a few days before the arrest, either on 17 or 18 May 2010, and Alf instructed him to open the boot of the car. Alf proceeded to put the Mickey Mouse bag into the backseat compartment, which was accessible from the boot of the car. Masoud said he was suspicious and put his hand into the bag to feel the contents. He felt “newspapers and plastic”. Alf noticed this and told him to get out of the vehicle. Masoud did so and nothing more was said or done about the Mickey Mouse bag and its contents. Masoud claimed that he neither opened the backseat compartment nor touched the bag until the arrest on 20 May 2010.

Masoud’s defence was that he must have been set up by the moneylending syndicate. He testified that the syndicate must have decided to do so because they found out he intended to stop working for them and were concerned that he would divulge information to the police. Another reason he gave was that the syndicate had found out that he tried to steal from them on a previous occasion. According to him, he cut open a bundle sometime in the first week of May 2010 intending to steal the money but changed his mind. He then wrapped up the bundle with tape before handing it to Alf. Alf later confronted him in his car with stun guns after finding out that the bundle had been cut open. Masoud claimed that a week later that, Alf forgot to take the two stun guns that he had with him when he left the car, and he (Masoud) decided to keep them for fear that Alf would threaten him again. These were the two stun guns that were later retrieved in Masoud’s unit by the CNB officers. Masoud testified that he was worried that the syndicate would take “serious action” against him, as evidenced from a message he sent to his girlfriend on 4 May 2010 where he told her that he was in danger. Perhaps as an alternative to his account that he was set up by the syndicate, Masoud also suggested that he might have been set up by another member of the syndicate, “Cina”, who discovered that Masoud had complained to Alf about his poor performance.

To make out the two charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking against Masoud, the prosecution had to prove that Masoud was in possession of the drugs in the bundles (A1A1A, A1A1B1A, A1A1C1A, B1A1A, B1A2A), knew the nature of the drugs, and was holding on to the drugs for the purpose of trafficking. There was no dispute over the fact that Masoud had possession of the bundles of drugs, but he claimed that he did not know that the bundles contained drugs. He said that he thought A1 contained money and had no idea what was in the Mickey Mouse bag. As clarified by the Court...