KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Three restaurant waiters, including two Thai nationals, were fined RM3,500 each in default four months imprisonment by the magistrate’s court here today, for possession of ketum liquid and ketum leaves at a restaurant in Cheras in March.
Tuanmasana and Asaming Doloh, both from Thailand, and Azhar Mustapha, 35, pleaded guilty to committing the two offences at Kedai Makan at No: 4, Jalan 15/144A, Taman Bukit Cheras here at 12.15am on March 12.
Magistrate Siti Radziah Kamaruddin ordered the trio to pay the fine or face imprisonment.
Earlier in mitigation, Tuanmasana, Asaming and Azhar, who were unrepresented pleaded with Siti Radziah to impose a fine, instead of a prison term.
The trio were charged under Section 30(3) of the Poisonous Act 1952 and under Section 30(5) of the same act, which carries an imprisonment of up to four years, a fine not exceeding RM10,000, or both.
According to the fact sheet, they were in possession of four plastic packets of ketum liquid, each weighing 1,500ml.
The police later raided a house and found dry ketum leaves weighing 73.56 grammes, being processed in an aluminum pot.
The ketum leaf (scientific name Mitragyna speciosa), also known as kratom in Thailand, is used by addicts as substitute for other types of drug abuse, especially ganja. — Bernama
