IPOH: A transport business owner has been ordered to enter his defence by the High Court here for trafficking 1847g of drugs five years ago, while his wife has been acquitted and discharged.

Justice Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed made the order after ruling that the prosecution had successfully proven a prima facie case against the 45-year-old accused, Mohinder Singh, for all five charges brought against him.

The accused 54-year-old wife, G. Peramla, was freed without defence being called.

In the first charge under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, both the accused were said to have distributed a total of 524.1g of heroin and monoacetylmorphines at a parking lot at a house in Bandar Baru Sri Klebang, Chemor near here on Nov 22, 2019 at about 6.25pm.

In the second charge under Section 39B (1)(a), Mohinder Singh was accused of possessing about 1.322g of heroin and monoacetylmorphines inside the same house in Bandar Baru Sri Klebang on the same date and time.

Mohinder Singh also faced three other charges of possessing 60.55kg of powder material consisting of caffeine, 93ml of liquid containing caffeine, and 10.74kg of powder material containing chloroquine under the Poisons Act 1952 on the same date, time and location.

In his findings, Justice Abdul Wahab said that based on the exhibits, submissions and witness statements, the accused, Mohinder Singh, had access to the house, with full control of the things inside the house, including the drugs and the poison.

He had been in possession of the plastic bag containing the drugs, which he had put inside the bonnet of a car, and there was no one else in control of the bag.

“The accused had the knowledge of the drugs, and the amount of drugs seized is not for personal consumption,” he said.

As for the second accused, she was there to fetch and send her husband by car.

“The common intention cannot be established. The accused is as such acquitted and discharged without her defence being called,” he added.

The case was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Saiful Akmal Mod Said and Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi.

The accused were represented by Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin, Effa Azuin Aidrul Hisham and Hartrisha Kaur Sandhu.

During the trial, 15 prosecution witnesses were called to testify.

Lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman, then informed the court that his client would testify under oath from the witness stand.

The court set Aug 28 and 29 for the defence trial, with four prosecution witnesses to be called, including the house owner.

In 2019, police issued a statement that a house in Klebang had been turned into a drug laboratory, where drugs comprising heroin and caffeine were seized.