Rozie Bin Ahmad and Public Prosecutor

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Suriakumari d/o Sidambaram
• Judgment Date: 05 September 2001
• Neutral Citation: [2001] SGDC 286
• Published date: 19 September 2003
• Year: 2001
• Citation: [2001] SGDC 286
• Court: District Court (Singapore)

Judgment:

Grounds of Decision

A. The charges

1. The Prosecution proceeded on the following re-amended charge against the

Accused: DAC 29025/2001 ("P1B")

YOU, Rozie Bin Ahmad, m/ 28 years S7307124J are charged that you, on or about the 2nd day of April 2001,

at about 8.05 pm, inside motor car bearing registration number SZA 2509Z, along Commonwealth Avenue West, Singapore, together with one Adnan Bin Mohd, NRIC: S1731615 Z, in furtherance of the common intention of both of you, did traffic in a controlled drug specified in Class A of the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185, to wit by giving 2.88 grams of diamorphine to a CNB officer, Corporal Sanusir Bin Othman, without any authorisation under the said Act or the Regulations made thereunder and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 5(1)(a) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185 read with Section 34 of the Penal Code Chapter 224 and punishable under Section 33 of the aforesaid Act.

2. At the end of the trial, having considered the facts and circumstances of the case, I found the Accused guilty and convicted him of the re-amended charge(P1B). After considering the circumstances of the case and the Accused's antecedents and mitigation, I sentenced the Accused in DAC 29025/2001 ("P1B") to 7 years' imprisonment and 8 strokes of the cane. The Accused being dissatisfied with the conviction and sentence appeals against them.

B. The Facts

(a) The Prosecution's case

3. The Prosecution first tendered into court the condition statement ("PS1") of Dr Yap Tiong Whei Angeline ("Dr Yap"), a Scientific Officer from the Centre for Forensic Science, Health Sciences Authority, together with the 2 chemist reports ("P2" and "P3"). Dr Yap's evidence is that at the request of the Central Narcotics Bureau ("CNB"), she analysed, inter alia, the 30 sachets of granular/powdery substance relevant to the present case and found them to contain a total of not less than 2.88 grams of diamorphine, a Class A controlled drug listed in the First Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act as well as a specified drug listed in the Fourth Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act.

4. The first witness for the Prosecution was Inspector Sivaraman Letchumanan ("Siva"), a supervisor and Officer-in-charge(Intelligence) attached to the Supervision Division of the CNB, Clementi Police Division. He testified that on 2 April 2001, while he was on duty, one of his officers, SSSgt Qamarul Zaman Bin Hussain ("Qamarul"), informed him that he had made a telephone contact with a male Malay drug trafficker who had arranged to deliver to him(Qamarul) 30 packets of heroin at a price fixed at $4,500. He said that Qamarul also briefed 6 other officers besides Siva, that is, Cpl Sanusir Bin Othman ("Sanusir"), SSgt Md Azman ("Azman"), SSgt Sudin Mamat ("Sudin"), SSgt Hansen Sebastian ("Hansen"), Sgt Justin Fong ("Justin") and Sgt Rajkumar ("Raj"), in English at the Clementi CNB Office at about 7 pm. Qamarul had told the officers during the briefing that Siva was to drive the unmarked police car SZA 2509Z ("the CNB car") and, together with Sanusir, proceed to and wait in the vicinity of Commonwealth MRT Station for the trafficker named "Oggie". He told them that "Oggie", who had already been notified the registration number of the CNB car, would identify and board the CNB car and direct them to another trafficker who would have the drugs with him. The rest of the CNB officers were to follow the CNB car in other police vehicles.

5. Siva stated that he and Sanusir left the station at about 7.20 pm. Siva drove the CNB car and Sanusir was the front seat passenger. They arrived at the Commonwealth MRT Station at about 7.40 pm. He said that after they had waited a while, the Accused and another male Malay, Wahid Bin Majid ("Wahid") got into the CNB car. He also said that there was no other third person with the Accused and Wahid at that time. Siva added that at that point of time he did not know the names of the 2 male Malays but that when they got into the car, the Accused introduced himself as "Oggie" and also introduced Wahid. Siva further stated that the Accused was the one who then directed him to drive to Commonwealth Drive. He added that during the journey the Accused was making phone calls on his handphone and appeared to be receiving directions on how and where to meet the other person. Siva stated that at all times it was the Accused who was talking on the handphone when in the car and that he never heard Wahid speak on the handphone or at all. He also said that if Wahid had spoken he(Siva) would "definitely" have heard him.

6. Siva gave evidence that while they were driving along Commonwealth Drive he saw another male Malay carrying a green "Starhub" paper bag, standing by the roadside and the Accused asked him(Siva) to drive towards that male Malay and stop the vehicle beside him. Siva added that that male Malay boarded the car when it stopped beside him. Siva also said that once that male Malay (Adnan Bin Mohamad) had entered the car, he introduced himself as "Uching".

7. Siva further said that after Adnan got into the car, the Accused asked him(Siva) to continue driving the car and that as he was driving along Commonwealth Drive, the Accused spoke to Sanusir in Malay and asked Sanusir for "duit" meaning money. Siva said that when Sanusir asked in Malay to see the "barang" meaning the drugs(heroin) first, he(Siva) saw the Accused take the "Starhub" paper bag from Adnan and pass it to Sanusir. Siva also said that he understood their conversation as he knew a little Malay. Siva further said that when Sanusir and the Accused were talking about "barang" they both clearly meant the drugs(heroin). Siva disagreed with the Defence Counsel that the Accused did not know what was in that paper bag and reiterated that the Accused knew that he was selling the drugs. Siva also disagreed that the Accused was in the CNB car to sell M1 telephone chips. Siva added that he did not speak to the Accused in the car.

8. Siva gave evidence that after the Accused had passed the "Starhub" paper bag to Sanusir, Sanusir opened the bag, took a look inside and took out a white envelope and examined the contents at which point Siva asked Sanusir "Ada barang?" meaning whether the drugs were in the paper bag. He added that when Sanusir replied "Ada" meaning there was, he(Siva) repeated "Ada" on the handphone handsfree kit which was a prearranged signal for the other CNB officers to move in to effect arrest. He said that at the same time, he stopped his vehicle and the other CNB officers arrived at the scene and the Accused, Adnan and Wahid were arrested.

9. Siva testified that there were 2 white envelopes each containing 15 sachets of heroin, that is, a total of 30 sachets of heroin in the Starhub paper bag ("the 30 sachets of drugs collectively marked with the Starhub paper bag they were found in as "P5"). Adnan also surrendered from his body another white envelope containing 10 sachets of heroin which had been hidden in his underwear. Siva said that he took a voluntary statement ("P6") from Adnan at the scene and that Adnan claimed that the drugs belonged to him and that they were for sale to Cpl Sanusir.

10. Subsequently, the Accused, Wahid and Adnan together with the drugs seized were brought to the Clementi Police Station where Siva lodged the arrest report ("P4"). After a urine test at the police station, the Accused, Wahid and Adnan were brought to their respective homes by some of the CNB officers for a search. Siva was later informed that nothing incriminating was found at their premises and that the urine tests were not positive. Siva said that subsequently, he escorted the Accused, Adnan and Wahid to the CNB Headquarters where he handed the 3 of them together with the drugs and exhibits to the Investigating Officer SSgt Sukumar (IO Sukumar). He said that there was no M1 telephone chips seized at the scene. Siva also testified that he did not know and had never seen the Accused, Adnan or Wahid prior to that day.

11. The next Prosecution witness was Cpl Sanusir Bin Othman ("Sanusir") who has been attached to the CNB, Clementi Police Headquarters for 4 years. Sanusir's evidence essentially corroborated the evidence given by Siva. Sanusir testified that on 2 April 2001 at about 7 pm, Qamarul had briefed him and 6 other CNB officers that a drug trafficker known as "Oggie" (the Accused) had made a deal to sell him 30 packets of heroin for $4,500. Sanusir added that Siva and he were assigned to act as undercover officers to pick up the Accused from Commonwealth MRT station bus stop, where the Accused would be waiting for them with a friend. He said that Siva and he left the police station at about 7.30 pm in the unmarked CNB car SZA 2509Z with Siva as the driver and Sanusir as the front seat passenger. He said that it was like a "blind date" and that they arrived at the Commonwealth MRT station bus stop at about 7.40 pm. He further said that a while later, the Accused and another male Malay called Wahid boarded the car and introduced themselves. He said that there was no other third person with the Accused and Wahid when they boarded the car.

12. Sanusir gave evidence that once the Accused had boarded the car, the Accused was the one who gave them directions as to the location where they were to proceed. He said that during the journey, the Accused's handphone kept ringing a few times and that the Accused spoke on the handphone. Sanusir said that he heard the Accused's conversation on the handphone in Malay, that is, "Uching, lu ka mana?" meaning "Uching, where are you?" and also "Barang ada?" meaning "Got the stuff?" after which the Accused ended the call. Sanusir said that he understood the word "barang" to mean heroin. He added that during the journey before Adnan boarded the car, the Accused had answered incoming calls on his handphone a few times but that he never heard Wahid speak at all....