Trial Begins in Malaysia of a Kenyan Woman Charged with Drug Trafficking

The trial of a Kenyan woman, who was charged with trafficking in 3747.63 grams of syabu, commenced at the High Court here yesterday.

Judith Achieng Odoyo, 31, who was brought before Justice Dato’ Abdul Rahman Sebli, was charged under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which is punishable by the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

The accused who hails from Outer Ring, Nairobi, Kenya, was caught for allegedly trafficking in the drug at a special examination unit at Terminal One of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here at 8.45am on September 13, 2011 (READ: Kenyan Woman Charged With Drug Trafficking in Malaysia, Faces Mandatory Death Sentence).

Earlier, in his opening remark, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Radzi Shah AB Razak said that a Customs officer instructed Odoyo, who boarded a Royal Brunei flight to KKIA, to get her bag scanned about 8.45am on September 13, 2011. At that time the accused was seen carrying a big black bag.

He also said when the accused placed the bag at the scanning machine a suspicious image appeared on the scanner and the officer instructed Odoyo to unlock and open her bag for inspection.

Following an instruction given by the officer, other Customs officers conducted a thorough inspection by taking out all the contents in the big black bag, including a backpack. The black bag went through a second scanning and the suspicious image appeared again. The officers then conducted a physical inspection into the bag and found white substances wrapped in an aluminum foil located at the base of the bag.

Odoyo and her belongings were handed over to the narcotics officers for further investigation. The white substances were sent to the Chemistry Department for analysis and based on the findings, the white crystalline substances were confirmed to be syabu.

Mohd Radzi said the prosecution would rely on the presumption of trafficking under Section 37(da) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

In the course of the trial, the prosecution will lead a direct and circumstantial evidence to show that the accused had knowledge of the said drug and the possession thereof is not accidental.

He added that the totality of the evidence would point to the irresistible conclusion that Odoyo did on her own behalf traffick in the said syabu.

The case of Odoyo, who was a student of an institute in Kenya, was first brought to the court on September 21, 2011.

Counsel Ram Singh represented Odoyo.

Source: Borneo Post Online