Appeals court upholds death sentence for 60 kg cannabis at Bukit Kayu Hitam
The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on 10 May 2012 dismissed the appeal of car dealer Airiy Azmi Mohamed, affirming the mandatory death sentence for trafficking 59.9 kg of cannabis found in hidden car compartments at Bukit Kayu Hitam in 2009.
The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya dismissed Airiy Azmi Mohamed’s appeal on 10 May 2012, affirming his conviction and mandatory death sentence for trafficking59,911.7 grams of cannabis.[1]A total of 65 compressed slabs had been recovered from three secret compartments in the car he was driving alone at the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration Complex, and chemists confirmed the substance was cannabis.[1]Airiy, a 31-year-old car dealer from Kelantan, had been sentenced to the gallows on 8 May 2011 for trafficking the 60 kg load at the same complex on 17 April 2009.[2]
Appeal
The judges held that concealment in purpose-built vehicle compartments attracted the statutory presumption of knowledge under section 37(h) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, and that carrying the cannabis from Hatyai in Thailand into Malaysia met the legal definition of trafficking.[1]Airiy’s defence that he was an innocent carrier with no knowledge of the hidden drugs was rejected.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
On 19 October 2026 the Sibu High Court sentenced Tiong Soon Hieng, 41, to life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for trafficking 5,081.06 g of cannabis. Judge Wong Siong Tung declined the death penalty and dated the term from his arrest on 6 January 2023 outside a coffee shop in Bintangor.
Cannabis 5.081 kgPrison life imprisonment and 12 strokes
Kuala Lumpur High Court on 29 September 2026 sentenced Dasham Novada Wickramathunga, 33, to 10 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge over about 2.57 kg of cannabis found at a Jalan Ipoh residence in April 2024.
S. Mohan, 38, and Ahmad Shamil Abdul Rashid, 28, were sentenced to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane for trafficking 139 kg of cannabis from a Bangsar car park in 2022. The judge found the case proven beyond reasonable doubt; the prosecution had sought the heavy term over the quantity.
Malaysia's Federal Court reinstated the trafficking convictions and 30-year sentences of Azril Azhar Ahmad and Zulfattar Md Ridzuan for 264.36 g of cannabis, after the Court of Appeal had reduced the charge to possession. Both had been released in February 2026.