GEORGE TOWN: A Vietnamese woman found in possession of 4,313.21 grams of illicit drugs, which she was suspected of trafficking, jumped for joy after she was acquitted by a High Court here, today.
Nguyen The Mong Tien, in her 30s, who was jointly charged with Lim Beng Hock, 51, was also seen hugging a policewoman and shedding tears of joy.
Nyugen and Lim were charged with two counts of drug trafficking under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which is punishable under Section 39B (2) and read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
If convicted, the duo would have been hanged to death.
They were alleged to have been trafficking 3,278.1 grams of heroin and 1,035.11 grams of methamphetamine at a condominium in Jalan Batu Uban here, on July 31, 2015 at about 12.05am.
Judicial commissioner Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh freed Nguyen and Lim without calling for their defence.
In delivering his judgement, Ahmad Shahrir said that the prosecution had relied on personal possession and a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) profile to establish the duo’s intention to traffic the drugs.
“After careful consideration, (I find that)… the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case,” he said.
Deputy public prosecutor Irwan Suaibon prosecuted, while Hussain Abdul Rashid represented Lim and Nguyen.
A total of 11 witnesses were called during the trial.