High Court in Klang frees former store manager of drug-trafficking charge

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — The Klang High Court today acquitted and discharged a former store manager of a drug-trafficking charge.

Judge Norliza Othman ordered Kumaresan Munusamy, 29, to be freed after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie at the end of the prosecution case.

In the judgment, Norliza said the prosecution failed to prove that the drug was under the control of the accused at the time of the incident.

Kumaresan was charged with trafficking 39 kilogrammes of cannabis in a squatter house behind a Chinese temple at Jalan Melawis, Klang here at 8 pm on Nov 11, 2021.

The charge, framed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, provides the death penalty or life imprisonment and can be whipped with not less than 12 lashes if not punished with the death penalty, if convicted.

Deputy public prosecutor Farah Aqilah Ahmad Fuad prosecuted, while lawyer Sivahnanthan Ragava represented the accused. — Bernama