Cannabis trafficker spared gallows, jailed 30 years with 12 strokes
On 20 June 2024 Malaysia's Federal Court upheld Mohammad Firdaus Mohsin's conviction for trafficking 9.528 kg of cannabis but commuted his death sentence to 30 years in prison with 12 strokes of the cane.
A businessman escaped the gallows on 20 June 2024 after Malaysia’s Federal Court commuted
his death sentence to 30 years in prison for trafficking9.528 kg of cannabis.[1]A
three-judge panel headed by Justice Zabariah Mohd Yusof upheld Mohammad Firdaus Mohsin’s
trafficking conviction and dismissed his appeal, but set aside the death sentence and
ordered 12 strokes of the rotan.[1]
Firdaus, 40, had been convicted by the Shah Alam High Court on 3 December 2021 of
trafficking the drug at about 10pm on 28 March 2017 along Jalan Bukit in front of the
Kajang KTMB train station in Hulu Langat, Selangor.[1][2]A witness saw him carrying
bags and placing them beside himself in the back seat of a car.[1]
The Court of Appeal had upheld the conviction and death sentence on 2 August 2023, with
Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail ruling there was no merit in the appeal and the conviction
was safe.[2]Deputy public prosecutor Zulkpli Abdullah appeared for the prosecution,
while Firdaus was represented by Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali and Nur Mustahir Md Nor.[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.