Muhammad Hamir B Laka: Trafficking Diamorphine under the Misuse of Drugs Act

In [2022] SGHC 203, the High Court of Singapore found Muhammad Hamir B Laka guilty of trafficking diamorphine under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Hamir was charged with possessing and selling diamorphine. The court rejected Hamir's defense of necessity, where he claimed he was selling drugs to pay for his wife's medical bills. The court convicted Hamir on the 1st Charge (Amended) and sentenced him to death.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Conviction on the 1st Charge (Amended) under s 5(1)(a) read with s 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

1.3 Case Type

Criminal

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Muhammad Hamir B Laka was convicted of trafficking diamorphine under the Misuse of Drugs Act and sentenced to death. The court rejected his defense of necessity.

1.7 Decision Date

21 August 2022

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Public Prosecutor	Prosecution	Government Agency	Conviction	Won	Kevin Yong of Attorney-General’s Chambers Samuel Yap of Attorney-General’s Chambers Charis Low of Attorney-General’s Chambers
Muhammad Hamir B Laka	Defendant	Individual	Conviction on the 1st Charge (Amended)	Lost	Elengovan s/o V Krishnan of Elengovan Chambers Wong Li-Yen Dew of Dew Chambers Johan bin Ismail of Johan Ismail & Co Haziq Ika bin Zahidi of Ika Law LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Tan Siong Thye	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Kevin Yong	Attorney-General’s Chambers
Samuel Yap	Attorney-General’s Chambers
Charis Low	Attorney-General’s Chambers
Elengovan s/o V Krishnan	Elengovan Chambers
Wong Li-Yen Dew	Dew Chambers
Johan bin Ismail	Johan Ismail & Co
Haziq Ika bin Zahidi	Ika Law LLC

4. Facts

On 23 September 2019, CNB officers arrested Zainudin bin Mohd Seedee and recovered 12 straws containing diamorphine.
Zainudin identified "Amir" as his drug supplier.
CNB officers arranged for Zainudin to contact "Amir" to purchase drugs.
On 23 September 2019, CNB officers arrested Muhammad Hamir B Laka, known as "Amir," near NTUC FairPrice.
Officers recovered drugs from Hamir's person and a brown paper bag he was carrying.
A house raid at Hamir's residence uncovered more drugs.
Hamir made several statements admitting to purchasing and selling drugs.

5. Formal Citations

Public Prosecutor v Muhammad Hamir B Laka, Criminal Case No 22 of 2022, [2022] SGHC 203

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2019-09-21	Accused sold diamorphine to Zainudin Bin Mohd Seedee.
2019-09-23	Zainudin bin Mohd Seedee arrested.
2019-09-23	Accused arrested.
2019-09-23	First Contemporaneous Statement recorded from accused.
2019-09-23	Second Contemporaneous Statement recorded from accused.
2019-09-23	Urine samples taken from accused.
2019-09-24	Urine samples handed to the Health Sciences Authority.
2019-09-24	Accused examined by Dr. Lin Hanjie before statements were recorded.
2019-09-24	Cautioned Statement recorded from accused.
2019-09-24	Accused examined by Dr. Lin Hanjie for a post-statement medical examination.
2019-09-26	First Long Statement recorded from accused.
2019-09-27	Accused's blood specimen obtained for DNA profiling.
2019-09-28	Second Long Statement recorded from accused.
2019-09-30	Third Long Statement recorded from accused.
2019-10-01	Fourth Long Statement recorded from accused.
2019-10-01	Fifth Long Statement recorded from accused.
2019-10-14	Dr. Sajith Sreedharan Geetha conducted a psychiatric assessment on accused.
2019-10-16	Dr. Sajith Sreedharan Geetha conducted a psychiatric assessment on accused.
2019-10-17	Dr. Sajith Sreedharan Geetha conducted a psychiatric assessment on accused.
2020-05-26	Statement recorded from accused.
2022-04-05	Trial began.
2022-04-06	Trial.
2022-04-07	Trial.
2022-04-08	Trial.
2022-04-12	Trial.
2022-04-13	Trial.
2022-05-04	Trial.
2022-08-22	Judgment reserved.
2022-08-22	Judgment issued.

7. Legal Issues

Trafficking of Controlled Drugs
- Outcome: The court found that the Prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant had possession of the Drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Possession of controlled drug
  - Knowledge of the nature of the drug
  - Possession for the purpose of trafficking
- Related Cases:
  - [2014] 3 SLR 721
  - [2017] 1 SLR 633
  - [2018] 2 SLR 1119
Accuracy of Statements
- Outcome: The court found that the statements were given voluntarily and were admissible as evidence.
- Category: Procedural
Chain of Custody
- Outcome: The court found that the Prosecution had established the integrity of the chain of custody in handling the drug exhibits.
- Category: Procedural
- Related Cases:
  - [2019] 1 SLR 440
  - [2021] 5 SLR 1317
Defence of Necessity
- Outcome: The court found that the defence of necessity was not established.
- Category: Substantive
- Related Cases:
  - [2001] 1 WLR 2206

8. Remedies Sought

Conviction
Sentencing

9. Cause of Actions

Drug Trafficking

10. Practice Areas

Criminal Litigation

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Muhammad Ridzuan bin Md Ali v Public Prosecutor	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2014] 3 SLR 721	Singapore	Cited for the elements required to prove an offence of trafficking in a controlled drug under s 5(1)(a) of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Obeng Comfort v Public Prosecutor	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2017] 1 SLR 633	Singapore	Cited for the explanation of the presumptions under s 18 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Dinesh Pillai a/l K Raja Retnam v PP	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2012] 2 SLR 903	Singapore	Cited regarding rebutting the presumption in s 18(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Zainal bin Hamad v Public Prosecutor and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2018] 2 SLR 1119	Singapore	Cited for the reference to “possession” in s 17 of the Misuse of Drugs Act entails proof of both the fact of possession and knowledge of what is being possessed.
Mohamed Affandi bin Rosli v Public Prosecutor and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2019] 1 SLR 440	Singapore	Cited for the applicable principles when considering whether a reasonable doubt has been raised as to the integrity of the chain of custody.
Public Prosecutor v Muhammad Shafiq bin Shariff	High Court	Yes	[2021] 5 SLR 1317	Singapore	Cited regarding the existence of weight discrepancies cannot raise any doubt as to the identity of the exhibits such as to call into question the chain of custody.
Lim Swee Seng v Public Prosecutor	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1995] 1 SLR(R) 32	Singapore	Cited regarding discrepancies in drug weight.
R v Shayler	England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)	Yes	[2001] 1 WLR 2206	England and Wales	Cited to argue that there exists a defence of necessity at common law.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Misuse of Drugs Act s 5(1)(a)	Singapore
Misuse of Drugs Act s 5(2)	Singapore
Misuse of Drugs Act s 17	Singapore
Misuse of Drugs Act s 18	Singapore
Misuse of Drugs Act s 33(1)	Singapore
Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 2012 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Criminal Procedure Code s 22	Singapore
Criminal Procedure Code s 23	Singapore
Criminal Procedure Code s 258	Singapore
Criminal Procedure Code s 279	Singapore
Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Penal Code s 81	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Diamorphine
Methamphetamine
Drug Trafficking
Misuse of Drugs Act
Chain of Custody
Defence of Necessity
CNB
HSA
Panas
Ice

15.2 Keywords

Drug Trafficking
Diamorphine
Misuse of Drugs Act
Singapore
Criminal Law

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Misuse of Drugs Act	95
Criminal Law	90
Criminal Procedure	60
Sentencing	50
Evidence	40

16. Subjects

Criminal Law
Drug Trafficking