Man, 23, gets jail, caning for selling cannabis, threatening to slit CNB officers’ throats

SINGAPORE — Facing charges for selling drugs, Marcus Kum Yijie got himself drunk and made several calls to the public hotline of the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) to insult and threaten its officers.

He also gave away his address during the calls, so the police got to him at home. 

The 23-year-old was on Friday (Dec 27) found guilty of five charges, which included the trafficking and consumption of drugs, and insulting a public servant.

He was sentenced to a jail term of five years, six months and a week, as well as five strokes of the cane.

A total of 10 charges were taken into the consideration during sentencing.

INTOXICATED AND FRUSTRATED

The court heard that Kum made a total of seven calls to the CNB’s hotline between 4.50am and 5.14am on April 14 last year. The hotline is meant for the public to report any information pertaining to drug abuse.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Claire Poh said that two CNB officers were operating the phone lines during this period.

During his calls, Kum made several references of wanting to harm CNB officers, including slitting their throats. In one instance, he said, “Send your officers to my house, I would (expletive) kill all of them.”

He also uttered a vulgar phrase in Cantonese to the operator.

In his final call to the hotline, Kum provided his home address and police officers were dispatched to arrest him. He was found to be intoxicated when they arrived.

Kum’s defence lawyer, Mr Raymond Ng, said that his client was feeling frustrated after he was caught selling cannabis in December 2017 by an undercover officer and was later charged for the offences.

“It was a call for help,” Mr Ng said. “He couldn’t sleep and he resorted to alcohol… which made him lose his senses.”

On Friday, the court heard about the undercover operation on Dec 20, 2017 by CNB, which led to Kum’s arrest.

DPP Poh said that CNB received a tip-off and learnt that Kum, who was then a full-time student, was trafficking “controlled drugs”.

An undercover officer, posing as a buyer, arranged to meet Kum outside a cafe located along Soo Chow Walk off Upper Thomson Road, where he could buy 25g of “weed” — the street name for cannabis.

When Kum handed over a plastic bag containing the drug, the officer paid him a total of S$250, which comprised marked notes. The officer then signalled for his colleagues, who were deployed around the vicinity, to move in and arrest Kum.

During investigations, an inspection of Kum’s family home found other incriminating evidence, which included “rolled-up joints of vegetable” matter and other cannabis-related paraphernalia, court documents showed.

DPP Poh added that before Kum’s arrest, he had been selling “weed” for another two months, and had about five clients. He would sell between 3g and 25g of weed for each transaction.

Kum also admitted to abusing weed in the morning before his arrest, by mixing it with tobacco and smoking it.

‘CHANCES OF REFORM ARE GOOD’

In pleading for a lighter sentence for his client, Mr Ng said that since Kum’s arrest, he has been providing the “fullest cooperation” to CNB.

“This has led to a breakthrough for other cases,” he said.

Mr Ng added that Kum has been trying to reform himself. This includes taking part in volunteer work, which saw those he worked with giving him good testimonials.

“The accused has also bonded with his parents (over the last two years),” Mr Ng said. “I think his chances of rehabilitation and reform are very good. I plead with your honour for leniency in terms of sentencing.”

District Judge Sarah Tan granted Kum’s request to defer serving his sentence until Jan 9, so that he could celebrate his mother’s birthday over the weekend and spend time with his family over the new year.