MALAYSIAN COURT SENTENCED MOTHER AND DAUGHTER TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia - An Iranian woman and her mother were sentenced to
death by the High Court here today for trafficking in 2.5 kilogram of
methamphetamine, three years ago.
Tayebeh Abbasali Najafi, 36, and Parvin Yousef Ilanlou, 57,
were found guilty by Justice Datuk Ghazali Cha of the offence involving 1297.5
gram and 1245.6 gram, respectively.
They committed the crime at the Customs Inspection exit,
Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on Sept 25, 2012.
The prosecution represented by Selangor deputy public
prosecutor Siti Noorbaya Jamil called five witnesses, while the defence
represented by counsel Muhammad Zaim Azfar Jalaludin called two, during the
trial.
Source: BERNAMA
PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT PARDONS DRUG TRAFFICKING BRITON
MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III granted on December 21 the conditional pardon to British national William Robert Burton who was convicted of drug-related charges.He also ordered the commutation of the sentences of four Filipinos convicted of various criminal offenses on December 23.
Press Undersecretary Abigail Valte read the orders in a news conference.
Valte said Burton, whose conviction for drug trafficking earned him a prison term from the Pasay Regional Trial Court, still needs to pay a P20,000-fine.
- She said Burton’s conditional pardon had already been transmitted to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and to the directors of the Bureau of Corrections and the Board of Pardons and Parole.
- Burton has been required to “take the first available means of transportation to England” after his papers are processed by the Bureau of Immigration.Burton, an undesirable alien, is not permitted to return to the Philippines.
Valte said Burton, whose conviction for drug trafficking earned him a prison term from the Pasay Regional Trial Court, still needs to pay a P20,000-fine.Valte said she was “not informed of the reasons” for the pardon given to Burton or the commutations to the four Filipinos.
Valte also said she was not aware whether other commutations would be given before the end of the year.
EAST AFRICA - A NEW HUB FOR HEROIN TRAFFICKING
VIENNA, SWITZERLAND - Released late on Friday, the report said there had been two major heroin seizures during the first quarter of 2011, each of more than 100 kg (220 pounds), reported by Kenya and Tanzania.The emergence of Africa as a heroin trafficking hub is almost certainly due to ongoing corruption, widespread poverty and limited law enforcement capacity as well as increased pressure on traditional drug trafficking routes.
This provided an incentive to reopen the African route to Europe that had been very active in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Traffickers are exploiting poorly-staffed seaports and airports across East Africa and the lower cost and ease of transporting drugs through the continent makes the extra distance worthwhile- The increasing amounts of heroin reaching Africa appear to be fueling drug use, with authorities reporting more cases. However, drug abuse estimates are likely to be unrealistically low due to a lack of comprehensive data.
Drug traffickers faced with restrictions to transit routes through Asia and the Middle East are turning to eastern Africa, driving up instability and increasing substance abuse, a United Nations report said.- The UN's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said Africa's emergence as an important heroin transport route in 2009 was of serious concern in a region ill-equipped to fight trafficking or care for people addicted to drugs.
Drug seizures and the arrest of traffickers indicated that African drug traffickers’ particularly West African networks are increasingly transporting Afghan heroin from Pakistan into East Africa for onward shipment to Europe and elsewhere.Afghanistan is the world's biggest producer of opium, the base ingredient of heroin, and over 40 per cent of this flowed into Pakistan in 2009 before being transported worldwide as part of the $68 billion (Dh249.7 billion) global opiate market.
YOUNG GRANDMOTHER CHARGED FOR TRAFFICKING DRUGS IN BRA
illustration photo of a woman drug pusher nabbed by plain cloth police women
KUALA TERENGGANU, Malaysia - A young grandmother was charged in the magistrates’ court, for a drug trafficking offence that allegedly took place at the public toilet of the Majlis Bandaraya Kuala Terengganu (MBKT) bus station, last Thursday.Harini Che Soh, 43, from Rantau Panjang, Kelantan, a single mother with four children and a grandchild, who was detained with 83gm of heroin at 6am at the bus station, was charged under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries the mandatory death sentence if convicted.
- However, no plea was recorded when the charge was read before magistrate Wan Nor Aklima Wan Salleh.
- Wan Nor Aklima later set Aug 23, for the case to be heard and no bail was allowed.
- Last Thursday, police detained Harini and another single mother, believed to be her colleague, aged 30, from Kuala Lumpur, during a raid at the bus station.
- Police found 20 vials of heroine weighing 83gm hidden in her bra.
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