BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

AT THE Magistrate’s Court, a 37-year-old local man pleaded guilty to six drug charges, related to possession and consumption of methylamphetamine and possession of drug utensils.

The defendant, Chua Kang Soon, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of methylamphetamine under Section 6(a) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, two counts of consumption under Section 6(b) and two counts of possession of drug utensils under Section 7.

The offences were committed on October 1 and November 16, 2006, at a residence in Kg Belimbing, Subok.

On October 1, at 1.20am, Chua was caught with 4.015 gm of methylamphetamine, a class “A” controlled drug, and drug paraphernalia.

On November 16, he was caught with 1.503 gm of the same substance and drug utensils.

Chua, who is represented by Hj Zul Sukarla, was convicted of separate drug-related offences last month.

Second time and subsequent offenders are prescribed a mandatory jail sentence under the law.

However, during the defence’s mitigation for sentencing, there was some debate as to whether the defendant should be considered a first or second time offender.

Hj Zul, citing legal precedent, argued that his client’s current charges for offences in 2006 were only filed after his prior conviction, and hence any sentence the magistrate gives should be based on the perception of the defendant as a first time offender.

Other mitigating factors put forward by Hj Zul were Chua’s cooperation with the Narcotics Control Bureau during the investigation and his guilty plea, which saved the court the time and expense of a trial.

Defence counsel also noted that when Chua was arrested last Wednesday during a NCB raid, the bureau detained him overnight without reasonable suspicion, since no evidence was found on his person or in his car linking him to drug activity.

Chua faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for May 20. He is currently out on court bail.

The Brunei Times

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