News

Tuesday August 21, 2012

Singaporean, Malaysian face Aussie jail term


TWO men from Singapore and Malaysia face life in an Australian prison after police charged them with more than 5kg of heroin found hidden in Chinese books.

The men, a 49-year-old Singaporean and a 32-year-old Malaysian, were questioned by Customs officials after they arrived at Melbourne Airport on a flight from Kuala Lumpur.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) linked them to two packages which were found in Melbourne’s central business district, where the men were due to stay.

“One package was found to contain 22 sealed Chinese books,” police said. “Following an examination of one of the books, AFP officers seized 350gm of a white powdery substance, which initial testing identified as heroin.”

Testing is ongoing but police suspect a total of 5.6kg of the drug was concealed within both packages.

The men were charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a drug. They face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and/or a S$1.08mil (RM2.69mil) fine. — AFP

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