RAY

A case of too much salt …

The Star, 10 Sept 2008
Five in ‘salt’ case rearrested

JOHOR BARU: Five men, including three foreigners, were acquitted of a drug trafficking charge after the substance they were caught with turned out to be salt.

The freedom for the five, who included two Mexicans and a Cana-dian, however was short-lived as they were rearrested immediately after leaving the High Court here.

The five – Ho Bee Seng, 53, and Tan Chwee Liang, 28, from Singapore, Jesus Alfonso, 36, and Gorge Enrique, 32, from Mexico and James Dugalo, 41, from Canada – were alleged to have committed a preparatory act for trafficking in 40.8kg of Ketamin at a house in Jalan Jingga 5, Taman Pelangi on March 4.

Earlier, DPP Laila Lateh requested in court that the charge against the men be withdrawn as per instructions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

In custody again: The five suspects, including two Mexicans and a Canadian, being led out of a High Court in Johor Baru after they were acquitted of a drug trafficking charge in Johor Baru Tuesday. The men were later rearrested.

When High Court Judicial Commissioner Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh asked for the reason behind the withdrawal, DPP Laila said she had instructions from Putrajaya.

At that point, Mohd Zawawi asked if this was the “salt case” and DPP Laila remained silent.

Defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo, who represented Dugalo, argued that under Section 254(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, if a DPP decided to withdraw or discontinue a case, the court had the capacity to discharge and acquit the suspects.

Gobind said the suspects had been in detention for seven months.