Pendakwa Raya v M ROSHASBUNI SANI BIN MOHAMED

Case Significance

Illustrates how possession and knowledge in a vehicle-borne trafficking case are proved through surveillance evidence and an unrebutted incriminating statement, with a life term of 30 years imposed.

This High Court decision at Kota Bharu, delivered by Azmi bin Abdullah J, is a trafficking prosecution under seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 (section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952), punishable under seksyen 39B(2), concerning 22,082 grams of methamphetamine. The accused was charged with trafficking on 26 October 2019 at a roadside in Bukit Bunga, Tanah Merah, Kelantan, in relation to drugs found in a Mitsubishi Pajero he was driving. Acting on information about a drug movement from Kelantan towards Pulau Pinang involving that vehicle, the raiding officer and his team kept the Pajero under observation, followed it for about twenty minutes over roughly ten kilometres during which no one else was seen to enter or leave it, and stopped it when it halted in front of a house. A physical search of the accused revealed no contraband, but a search connected to the vehicle led to the recovery of the drugs.

The prosecution called eight witnesses — including the storekeeper, the chemist, a public witness, the original and connected owners of the vehicle, a Mitsubishi service manager, the raiding officer, and the investigating officer — to establish the type and weight of the drug, possession, and the accused's reaction on arrest. Two witnesses were called for the defence. A live issue was the effect of the prosecution's failure to call one Mohd Anuar. The Court treated a statement recorded as exhibit P24 as strong evidence of the accused's knowledge of the drugs in the car, evidence that was never rebutted or reasonably explained.

The Court held that the defence evidence failed to raise a reasonable doubt, in particular failing to displace the accused's knowledge of, and control over, the drugs in the vehicle. It found the prosecution had proved its case and convicted the accused. After considering the plea in mitigation and the prosecution's submission on aggravation, the Court imposed penjara seumur hidup yang membawa 30 tahun penjara dari tarikh tangkapan (life imprisonment carrying 30 years' imprisonment from the date of arrest), with no strokes of the cane ordered because the accused had already reached the age of 50. The judgment is a useful illustration of how possession and knowledge in a vehicle-borne trafficking case are established through surveillance evidence and an unrebutted incriminating statement.