The Kuala Lumpur High Court sent R. Satiamoorty, a 26-year-old unemployed man, to the gallows for trafficking 29.298 kilograms of cannabis found in his rented car near Setapak.[1] Justice Azman Abdullah said there was only one punishment for drug trafficking, which was death, calling drugs public enemy number one.[1]
Police had watched a rest stop in Ulu Bernam on an informant’s tip before tailing the Ford Telstar Satiamoorty was driving alone to a Mobil petrol kiosk in Sri Rampai, where he was arrested after a scuffle.[2] Officers found 34 compressed blocks of cannabis concealed behind the rear seats and in the boot, later confirmed by the chemist as 29,298 grams.[2] Satiamoorty claimed a friend and employer named Selvam had asked him to drive the car to a workshop and that he had lost his way, but the trial judge invoked the presumption of trafficking under section 37(h) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and convicted him.[2] The charge, for trafficking at the Sri Rampai petrol station on 13 May 2009, carried the mandatory death sentence.[2] The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal on 30 November 2012, finding his conduct in resisting arrest and transporting the cannabis showed he knew the drugs were there.[2]