<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Women plead guilty to drug trafficking
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Capital charge amended for duo who brought in heroin from Johor Baru </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOR about $300 each, two women risked their lives to help smuggle in 2.5kg of heroin-laced powder.
Jamaliah Yacab, 24, and Maryati Sipon, 27, initially faced a capital charge as the amount of heroin in the powder totalled 16.53g.
After the prosecution amended the charge to trafficking at least 14.99g of heroin, the two pleaded guilty yesterday.
Anyone convicted of trafficking more than 15g of heroin into Singapore will be hanged.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Cheng Thiam told the High Court that the heroin was hidden in a box of detergent that was among other household items brought in through the Woodlands Checkpoint by Jamaliah on Dec 31, 2007.
The Malaysian, then a babysitter, had made a successful run four days before and was unaware she was being watched by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers.
While Jamaliah carried the drugs, Maryati, an unemployed Singaporean, was the money mule.
DPP Ng said the duo were part of a drug trafficking syndicate operating in Malaysia and Singapore.
Court documents indicated that businessman Abdul Salam Musthafa met Maryati at a coffee shop near Lavender MRT station on the morning of Dec 31, 2007.
He allegedly handed her $30,500 and instructed her to convert it into Malaysian ringgit and to give it to a man in Johor Baru known only as Boy Cino.
For the task, she received $300.
She passed the RM69,690 to Boy Cino as instructed at a taxi stand at City Square in Johor Baru before returning to Singapore by taxi.
Two hours later, Boy Cino arranged for Jamaliah to meet him in Johor Baru. He gave her RM400 and handed her the plastic bags containing the heroin hidden in a box of detergent.
While CNB officers trailed her, other officers were monitoring the intended recipient.
When she delivered the drugs to 42-year-old Khairul Anwar Zaini that evening on the 10th floor lift landing of Block 19, Telok Blangah Crescent, she received another $50.
Jamaliah and Khairul Anwar were arrested, and so were Maryati and Abdul Salam.
The women, who will be sentenced in two weeks, face a minimum jail term of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison.
As women, they will be spared the mandatory 15 strokes of the cane.
Khairul Anwar's case will be heard today, while Abdul Salam is claiming trial.
The court was not told why the amount of heroin was reduced.
In January, storeman Sng Choong Peng, 30, was sentenced to 22 years in jail and 22 strokes of the cane for trafficking at least 14.99g of heroin despite the fact that the amount of the drug in his possession exceeded 17g.
At the time, Sng's lawyer told The Straits Times that the reduction in the amount of heroin was purely on compassionate grounds as the amount trafficked was just over the limit for the death penalty. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Capital charge amended for duo who brought in heroin from Johor Baru </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Khushwant Singh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOR about $300 each, two women risked their lives to help smuggle in 2.5kg of heroin-laced powder.
Jamaliah Yacab, 24, and Maryati Sipon, 27, initially faced a capital charge as the amount of heroin in the powder totalled 16.53g.
After the prosecution amended the charge to trafficking at least 14.99g of heroin, the two pleaded guilty yesterday.
Anyone convicted of trafficking more than 15g of heroin into Singapore will be hanged.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Cheng Thiam told the High Court that the heroin was hidden in a box of detergent that was among other household items brought in through the Woodlands Checkpoint by Jamaliah on Dec 31, 2007.
The Malaysian, then a babysitter, had made a successful run four days before and was unaware she was being watched by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers.
While Jamaliah carried the drugs, Maryati, an unemployed Singaporean, was the money mule.
DPP Ng said the duo were part of a drug trafficking syndicate operating in Malaysia and Singapore.
Court documents indicated that businessman Abdul Salam Musthafa met Maryati at a coffee shop near Lavender MRT station on the morning of Dec 31, 2007.
He allegedly handed her $30,500 and instructed her to convert it into Malaysian ringgit and to give it to a man in Johor Baru known only as Boy Cino.
For the task, she received $300.
She passed the RM69,690 to Boy Cino as instructed at a taxi stand at City Square in Johor Baru before returning to Singapore by taxi.
Two hours later, Boy Cino arranged for Jamaliah to meet him in Johor Baru. He gave her RM400 and handed her the plastic bags containing the heroin hidden in a box of detergent.
While CNB officers trailed her, other officers were monitoring the intended recipient.
When she delivered the drugs to 42-year-old Khairul Anwar Zaini that evening on the 10th floor lift landing of Block 19, Telok Blangah Crescent, she received another $50.
Jamaliah and Khairul Anwar were arrested, and so were Maryati and Abdul Salam.
The women, who will be sentenced in two weeks, face a minimum jail term of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison.
As women, they will be spared the mandatory 15 strokes of the cane.
Khairul Anwar's case will be heard today, while Abdul Salam is claiming trial.
The court was not told why the amount of heroin was reduced.
In January, storeman Sng Choong Peng, 30, was sentenced to 22 years in jail and 22 strokes of the cane for trafficking at least 14.99g of heroin despite the fact that the amount of the drug in his possession exceeded 17g.
At the time, Sng's lawyer told The Straits Times that the reduction in the amount of heroin was purely on compassionate grounds as the amount trafficked was just over the limit for the death penalty. [email protected]
