Over 28 years’ jail, 18 strokes of cane for man who planned use of drone to bring drugs into S’pore

, as well as consuming a controlled drug in the Republic and outside of Singapore.

Dressed in a purple prison jumpsuit with a bandaged left hand, the bespectacled man gestured often to his friends and family from the dock as the sentence was being read out by District Judge Jasvender Kaur.

Noting the severity of his offences, the judge pointed to Helmie’s role in controlling the operation to bring in the drugs.

Helmie had devised a plan to overcome the restrictions by using drones to fetch drugs from across the border.

Furthermore, he had committed the offences while he was on bail for two prior drug-related offences, including the possession of controlled drugs.

While Helmie’s lawyer argued for parity in sentencing with the three co-accused, the judge said parity would not apply in this case as Helmie was being sentenced for a different charge.

He is convicted for bringing in more than 180mg of methamphetamine, whereas the three co-accused were convicted on a reduced charge of importing around 166g of the same substance, she added.

It was not explained in court on Oct 16 why Helmie’s co-accused were convicted of importing a lesser amount of drugs.

The judge also pointed out that Helmie had 23 charges being taken into consideration for his sentencing, including three drug trafficking charges.

Around April 2020, Hasri sought out Helmie’s help to procure narcotics for him as he was having difficulty finding suppliers during the lockdown.

Helmie then engaged Mohamad Shahrezza to operate a drone to transport drugs from Malaysia into Singapore.

The operation took place two to three times a week at the Kranji park at a time when Covid-19 restrictions were in place.

He was caught after authorities detected the drone returning to Singapore in the airspace over Kranji Reservoir Park at around 6pm on June 17, 2020.

Police officers found a pouch containing more than 180g of methamphetamine attached to the drone.

Helmie was arrested on the same day and has been in remand since.