GEORGE TOWN, Aug 28 ― The High Court yesterday sentenced a 30-year-old Thai woman to death after finding her guilty of trafficking in 689.10gm of cocaine in 70 capsules hidden in her anus and her private parts.
Chonmanee Laphathanawat, who was detained at the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas in February 2013, looked calm but dejected when Judicial Commissioner Datuk Nordin Hassan pronounced the verdict.
She was charged with committing the offence from about 12.50am on Feb 13 to Feb 16, 2013 at the Penang General Hospital.
Represented by court-assigned defence counsel K. Thangeswaran, Chonmanee told the court she was unaware the capsules contained cocaine, thinking they contained gems.
She said she was forced by some people to swallow the capsules in Brazil with other capsules forcibly inserted into her private parts.
It was argued that she had not felt well and was asleep throughout her journey from Brazil to Malaysia via Barcelona, Spain and Singapore.
Chonmanee said she sought help from Penang airport police when she could no longer bear the pain in her abdomen.
Deputy public prosecutor Amir Hamdzah Othman said Chonmanee failed to produce any witnesses or evidence to substantiate her claims.
Nordin said the defence had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
He said Chonmanee failed to inform authorities in Barcelona or Singapore before her flight to Penang about her plight.
“She could also have checked the contents of the capsules in her private parts. Her ‘willful blindness’ did not help her defence,” he said.
“I am satisfied that the prosecution has proven a prima facie case against her.”
Chonmanee, from the Thai province of Rayong, was harged under Section 39B(1)(a) and Section 39B(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
