Rahmat bin Abdullah, a 59-year-old taxi driver, and Kalaiselvan Nallathamby, a 45-year-old Malaysian, were originally charged with conspiracy to traffic 1,063 g of cannabis, a capital charge.[1] The prosecution reduced both charges, and each man pleaded guilty to trafficking 499.9 g of cannabis and to consuming cannabis.[1]
A rubbish-bin pickup in Woodlands
Rahmat telephoned Kalaiselvan at 9.50 a.m. on 25 January 2003 and asked him to retrieve a plastic bag of cannabis hidden in a rubbish bin at Blk 728 Woodlands Circle, which Kalaiselvan unpacked at his nearby flat.[1] That afternoon the two drove off in Rahmat’s taxi, which Central Narcotics Bureau officers intercepted at 3.20 p.m. at Woodlands Drive 61; a later search of the flat found the trafficking drugs in a cupboard, and both men’s urine tested positive for controlled drugs.[1]
22 years each, plus the cane for one
Justice Choo Han Teck sentenced both men to 22 years’ imprisonment with effect from their remand on 27 January 2003, plus one year’s jail each on the consumption charges, all running concurrently.[1] The second accused received an additional 15 strokes of the cane on the trafficking charge, while the 59-year-old first accused was spared caning because of his age.[1]
