Appeal court upholds 30-year term for 1 kg cannabis trafficking in Johor
Malaysia's Court of Appeal on 3 January 2026 dismissed tiler Teh Geok Chin's challenge and upheld 30 years' imprisonment and 12 strokes of the rotan for trafficking 1,024.60 g of cannabis in a Larkin apartment in April 2019, ruling his guilty plea barred any appeal against conviction and the sentence was the minimum available under trafficking law.
🇲🇾 Jalan Muafakat, Larkin, Johor Bahru · Malaysia
- Charged
- 1
- Cannabis
- 1,024.6 kg
- Prison
- 30 years
Teh Geok Chin, a tiler then aged 47, had pleaded guilty in the Johor Bahru High Court to trafficking
1,024.60 grammes of cannabis found at an apartment on Jalan Muafakat, Larkin, at about 00:10 on
18 April 2019.[1][2] In October 2023 the court sentenced him to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes
of the rotan, the term Malaysia uses for life imprisonment in this context.[1][2]
On 3 January 2026 a Court of Appeal bench dismissed his appeal.[1][2] Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan
held that after a voluntary guilty plea Teh could not challenge the conviction under section 305 of
the Criminal Procedure Code and might contest only the sentence.[2] The High Court had followed the
section 173(b) procedure, reading the charge to him in Mandarin, and the appellate court found no
basis to reopen the conviction.[1][2]
On sentence, the judge said the High Court had only two lawful options for trafficking at this weight:
the death penalty or life imprisonment with mandatory whipping, and the 30-year term was already
the minimum.[1][2] The appeal against sentence was therefore dismissed.[2]
Sources
- Court of Appeal upholds 30-year jail, whipping on tiler for trafficking over 1kg of cannabis. Malay Mail, 3 January 2026. Archived copy.
- Court rules man cannot appeal conviction after guilty plea. New Straits Times, 3 January 2026. Archived copy.
Open questions the AI reported
- The trafficking occurred on 18 April 2019 and the High Court sentence was passed in October 2023; this report is dated at the 3 January 2026 appeal ruling.
- Co-accused Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen was discharged and acquitted; the reports opened do not say why.
- Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan's 17-point guideline for guilty pleas in serious drug cases was issued in the same judgment but applies generally, not only to cannabis.