\n<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: A young man took up his best friend’s request and collected a parcel that contained cannabis.<\/p>\n
While he was waiting for further instructions on who to deliver the parcel to, Alger Aw Wei Jun was arrested by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers conducting a raid.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old Singaporean was sentenced on Tuesday (May 26) to 16 years and 10 months’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane.<\/p>\n
The bulk of the sentence was for possessing cannabis for the purpose of trafficking. He also admitted to possessing methamphetamine and consuming meth.<\/p>\n
Another five charges were taken into consideration.<\/p>\n
The court heard that Aw has known the co-accused, 32-year-old Hidayatullah Taruna Jaya Taruna, since late 2022.<\/p>\n
Aw’s defence lawyer, Mr Johnathan Lee from law firm Fong & Fong, said that Aw had come to know Hidayatullah through an acquaintance whom Aw met in a reformative training centre.<\/p>\n
On the night of Aug 5, 2024, Hidayatullah asked Aw for his help to collect a “book” and deliver it to his friend in exchange for cash.<\/p>\n
Aw knew that the “book” referred to cannabis. He regarded Hidayatullah as his best friend who had helped him with money multiple times, so he agreed.<\/p>\n
On the morning of Aug 6, 2024, Hidayatullah sent photos and a video to Aw to show him where he could collect the cannabis.<\/p>\n
Aw headed to a staircase landing of a public housing block in Ang Mo Kio and saw a bag containing cannabis there at a dry riser \u2013 a boxed outlet of pipes from which firefighters access water during an emergency.<\/span><\/p>\n He retrieved it and waited for further instructions on where to meet Hidayatullah’s friend.<\/p>\n At about 2.20pm that same day, CNB officers acted on information that they received and raided the public housing unit where Aw was, arresting him.<\/p>\n A block containing at least 459.2g of cannabis \u2013 a Class A controlled drug \u2013 was found on him.<\/p>\n Packets of meth were also found on Aw, and his urine tested positive for the drug, which he had consumed before being arrested.<\/p>\n Aw had been convicted in March 2021 of consuming and trafficking meth, making him a repeat offender liable for enhanced punishment.<\/p>\n The prosecution sought a jail term from 16 years and 10 months to 19 years, along with 12 to 13 strokes of the cane.<\/p>\n Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamed Riasudeen noted that the mandatory minimum sentence for possessing at least 329.9 g of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking was five years’ jail and five strokes of the cane. The maximum is 20 years’ jail and 15 strokes, for a first-time offender.<\/p>\n As a repeat offender, Aw faced a mandatory minimum of 10 years’ jail and 10 strokes, while the maximum was 30 years’ jail and 15 strokes.<\/p>\n Mr Lee, Aw’s lawyer who took on the case under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, asked for leniency and a penalty of between 14 and 10 months’ jail and 17 years and 10 months’ jail, along with 12 strokes of the cane.<\/p>\n Mr Lee said Aw is of “modest background and limited education”. His father has died, while his mother was estranged from him since Aw was around three years old.<\/p>\n Aw’s younger brother was recently released with a tag for drug-related offences, the lawyer added.<\/p>\n He also said that Aw was close to his grandmother, who lives with his aunt.<\/p>\n Since no one was in a position to be his bailor, Aw has been remanded since August 2024, Mr Lee told the court.<\/p>\n He said that Aw, a bartender before the incidents occurred, “candidly” admitted to his offences after being arrested.<\/p>\n “The defence submits that at 25 years old, the accused still has room for reform,” the lawyer argued.<\/p>\n He had asked that a lenient sentence be given to improve Aw’s employment prospects and facilitate his reintegration into society.<\/p>\n Hidayatullah’s case is pending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE: A young man took up his best friend’s request and collected a parcel that contained cannabis. While he was waiting for further instructions on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--WTphlx3e--\/c_crop,h_900,w_1600,x_0,y_229\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/fl_relative,g_south_east,l_mediacorp:cna:watermark:2021-08:cna,w_0.1\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2025\/06\/18\/statecourts_0.jpg?itok=lQ_enaBo","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23500,14545,9021,172,780,7540,12565,4380,59],"class_list":["post-55454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-agreeing","tag-cannabis","tag-deliver","tag-friend","tag-jail","tag-offender","tag-parcel","tag-repeat","tag-years","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}SENTENCING ARGUMENTS<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
Read Full Article At Source <\/a>
\n