SHAH ALAM
A Nigerian man facing a drug trafficking charge walked away after he was acquitted by the High Court here.
Ugo Makas Franklin (Left) and Dato Geethan Ram Vincent (Right)
Nigerian Man Acquitted of Trafficking Drugs in Underwear
Cheang SueLyn SHAH ALAM
A Nigerian man facing a drug trafficking charge walked away after he was acquitted by the High Court here.
Ugo Makas Franklin was discharged and acquitted by judge YA Dato’ Azmi Bin Ariffin without his defence being called.
The man was accused of trafficking in 344.1g of methamphetamine at Bangunan Livia Residences in Kajang at 12.30pm on August 1, 2016.
According to the police, a body search of the Accused uncovered 3 packets of drugs in his underwear underneath his denim jeans.
He was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act, which carries the death sentence or life imprisonment and whipping not less than 15 strokes, upon conviction.
The prosecution called five witnesses to testify in the trial throughout the prosecution stage.
“It’s impossible for him to fit the drugs into his underwear!” the Defence Counsel argued.
The judge looked calm as he interjected, “Okay, let’s try it."
The courtroom was stunned into silence for a moment. The judge asked for the courtroom to be vacated, leaving only key persons.
The Accused was then asked to strip down to his underwear and attempt to insert the packets into his underwear.
After some struggling, it was clear that the drugs would not fit into the Accused’s underwear, much less allow him to zip up his jeans.
YA Dato’ Azmi held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Ugo at the end of their case and swiftly acquitted him.
Counsel Dato’ Geethan Ram Vincent and Lavanyia Raja represented the Accused.