Malaysia cuts death sentence for 345 kg of cannabis to 30 years in jail
Malaysia's Court of Appeal commuted the death sentence of former odd-job worker Faizal Zainal Abidin to 30 years' jail with 24 strokes of the cane for trafficking 345 kg of cannabis in 2016. The court used its discretion under the amended law that ended the mandatory death penalty.
The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on 26 June 2024 commuted the death sentence of Faizal Zainal Abidin, 46, a former odd-job worker, to 30 years’ jail for trafficking345 kg of cannabis eight years earlier.[1][2]A three-member bench chaired by Justice Che Ruzima Ghazali, sitting with Justices Azmi Ariffin and Azhahari Kamal Ramli, also ordered 24 strokes of the rotan, the maximum allowed.[1][2]
Faizal had been found guilty of trafficking 190 kg of cannabis at a house in Subang Jaya and 155 kg at a car park nearby on 12 March 2016, and the Shah Alam High Court sentenced him to death on 29 September 2022.[1]The drugs had been brought from Sungai Petani, Kedah, by a syndicate; police trailed Faizal’s drug-laden car and caught him after watching a rented house he had occupied since January 2015.[1]
His lawyer conceded the conviction but asked the bench to use its discretion now that the 2023 reform ended the mandatory death penalty, while the deputy public prosecutor urged the court to keep the death sentence given the excess weight.[1]The jail terms run concurrently from 13 March 2016 with the whipping consecutive, giving 30 years and 24 strokes in total.[1][2]
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.