SINGAPORE: A 25-year-old Malaysian-Indian has been sentenced to 10 years in jail and 10 strokes of the cane in Singapore for drug trafficking.
Devendran Shanugam pleaded guilty on Monday to two charges of attempted possession of drugs with common intention for the purpose of trafficking, Channel News Asia reported.
The court heard that Devendran was transferred to work as a cleaner under Tiben Raj Anbalagan at a community centre in Singapore in August 2021.
They both became close and Devendran agreed to pick up drugs like diamorphine, cannabis and methamphetamine for him in return for money.
Devendran knew the drugs he was collecting and delivering were illegal but he continued to work along with Tiben Raj to traffick drugs for an unidentified person called 'Boss'.
From January to mid-February 2022, the pair received instructions from ‘Boss’ to collect bundles of drugs from lorries.
They collected bundles of drugs and stored them in the cleaners' storeroom at the community centre, and were paid according to the weight of the drugs collected.
In total, Devendran collected and delivered drugs including diamorphine, meth and cannabis, or mixtures of these drugs, on 16 occasions between January and May 2022.
In particular, he collected 25 bundles of diamorphine on three occasions and 1kg in gross weight of cannabis on one occasion.
He was paid SG$500 to SG$2, 000 for each delivery, and was arrested by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) on May 19, 2022.