SINGAPORE: SECOND MALAYSIAN-INDIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

November 17, 2021:

A 39-year-old Indian origin Malaysian who was caught with a bag of drugs in 2018 was sentenced to death on 17 November 2021 by a Singapore court for trafficking.
The death sentence comes within weeks as another drug trafficker, a 33-year old Malaysian Indian, awaits the outcome of his last ditch appeal to be spared the gallows while his hanging, originally scheduled for 10 November, has been stayed due to COVID-19 infection.
Munusamy Ramarmurth, a cleaning supervisor, was convicted by the High Court on 17 November. He was caught with a bag of drugs in his motorcycle parked along Harbourfront Avenue, according to media reports.
He was caught with 6.3kg of a granular substance, which was found to contain 57.54g of heroin after analysis.
Justice Audrey Lim, in written grounds issued on 15 November, explained her decision to convict Munusamy, saying she disbelieved his contention that he thought the bag contained stolen mobile phones.
The judge also rejected his claim that he had allowed a compatriot to store the bag temporarily in the rear box of his motorcycle so that another man could collect it later.
Munusamy, who has worked in Singapore for 14 years, was arrested on the afternoon of 26 January 2018, in the cleaners' room at Harbourfront Centre Tower 2.
He was then escorted to his motorcycle parked at the open-air carpark at Keppel Bay Tower. A red plastic bag, containing bundles of drugs, was found in the rear box of his bike.
During his trial, Munusamy said he had allowed a Malaysian named Saravanan to store the bag temporarily in the box. He said Saravanan told him someone known as "Boy" would collect it.
Munusamy claimed that he thought the bag contained stolen mobile phones because in July 2017, Saravanan and Boy had asked him to help store some stolen phones in the box.
He said Saravanan told him the items in the bag were "panas".
Munusamy said the term meant "stolen item" although his lawyer, Mahadevan Lukshumayeh, did not dispute that it could also refer to illegal drugs.
Justice Lim concluded that Munusamy's story was made up.
The judge found Munusamy knew what was in the bag.
She noted that he knew Saravanan was involved in drug activities, yet he did not check the contents of the bag.