Drug courier spared death penalty for helping CNB in probe

SINGAPORE — A Thai woman yesterday escaped the gallows after the High Court sentenced her to life in prison for importing more than 1.8kg of methamphetamine because she had provided substantive assistance to the authorities in disrupting drug trafficking activities.

Konkla Juntida was arrested at an arrival hall in Changi Airport on Dec 26, 2012, after the Class A controlled drug was found in her possession.

Investigations revealed that the 31-year-old had travelled alone to Brazil in August 2012 and to Lome, the capital of the West African country of Togo, in December that same year.

Konkla said she was sent to these countries by her boyfriend — an African man named Mark whom she met at a bar in Bangkok — to meet his brothers and that Mark had given her money to go on these trips.

When she met Mark’s “brothers” in Brazil and Togo, she said they had tampered with her bag. Although her suspicions were aroused, she said she did not say anything because she had trusted Mark.

Konkla was arrested in Singapore during a stopover from West Africa to Bangkok.

The prosecution, however, said Konkla’s account of her relationship with Mark failed to prove that she was in a romantic relationship with him. Further, the prosecution pointed to the fact that she was merely helping him smuggle drugs for money.

The defence did not raise any objections in court yesterday.

Konkla appeared calm in court yesterday after Judicial Commissioner Hoo Sheau Peng meted out the sentence. She later met representatives from the Thai Embassy who were present at the hearing.

In November 2012, the Misuse of Drugs Act was amended together with the Penal Code to give judges discretion to remove the mandatory death penalty for certain types of homicide and drug trafficking offences.

To receive a certificate of substantive assistance, a drug trafficker must have played only the role of a courier, and either have cooperated with the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in a substantive way or have a mental disability that substantially impairs his appreciation of the gravity of the act.

In November 2013, convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Yong Vui Kong, 26, became the first offender to escape the death penalty following the amendment, after he was found to have substantially assisted the CNB in disrupting drug-trafficking activities within as well as outside the Republic.