Death penalty for Singaporean heroin trafficker who claimed he was just safekeeping cannabis for a man he met once

A man who was convicted of drug trafficking in May of this year was given the death penalty on Thursday (Oct 27).

Singaporean Shen Hanjie, 31, originally claimed he believed that the substance found among his possessions in November 2018 consisted only of cannabis and that it had been given to him for safekeeping by a man named Alan, whom he only met once.

Police found 25 packets of heroin in Shen’s bedroom. The total weight of the illegal substance was 34.94g of pure heroin, which is over twice the amount of 15g that qualifies a drug trafficker for the death penalty.  

High Court judge Dedar Singh Gill rejected the claims Shen had made, especially after his testimony changed during the course of the investigation.

After he was arrested, Shen claimed that he never looked inside or opened the packets that contained the drugs, and neither had he asked Alan what was inside them, maintaining that he was innocent of their contents. 

But during the trial, he altered his story to say that he did ask Alan what they are. His acquaintance answered, “ganja,” or cannabis.

The Straits Times quotes Justice Gill as saying, “This marked shift in the accused’s evidence and the absence of any credible explanation for this change show the accused’s lack of credit and renders his belated assertion at trial unbelievable.”

Shen’s claims that the drugs had been in his possession merely for safekeeping were also rejected by the judge since Shen had said that Alan had previously sent drugs to him for passing on to other buyers.

Notebooks found in Shen’s possession showed records of these transactions.

Justice Gill found that proof had been provided beyond reasonable doubt that Shen had the drugs with the aim of trafficking them.

He added on Thursday that Shen does not qualify for life imprisonment.

Shen was found by the court not only to be a courier, but he was also not certified by the prosecution to have substantively assisted the Central Narcotics Bureau in disrupting drug trafficking, and neither does he suffer from an intellectual disability or mental disorder or that hampered his responsibility for his actions.

Many netizens expressed support for the high court decision. 

Others expressed compassion for Shen’s family, especially his parents.

Some, however, said they don’t believe that the death penalty is a strong deterrent to drug crime. 

/TISG

‘We’re here (in SG), we’ll debate you on national TV, and pay for your transport & meals to come meet us’ — local activists tell K Shanmugam