Drug Trafficker in Singapore

[WantDaChronic]

Drug Traffick Charge

 

A South Australian man has been charged with drug trafficking in Singapore.

 

38 year old Michael Karras was allegedly caught with 495 grams of cannabis in his apartment.

 

If found guilty, Karras will face between 5 and 20 years in jail.

 

Australian officials are providing him with consular assistance.

 

Source: Sky News Active...

 

this story was edited before i got to copy it down, but the death penalty for cannabis in Singapore starts at 500 grams so this guy should be thanking his lucky stars that he wont die for having a bit of pot on him

[Chato]

very sad state of affairs in more ways than one...

 

regardless of the fact that some country/judges would like to rule on the legality of a plant , something dictated by the laws of nature ffs.... it';s beyond our juristicdon in the present world we live, i hope and pray for change but dont hold me breath.....

[auspamp]

but the death penalty for cannabis in Singapore starts at 500 grams

 

I bet this guy is glad he had a couple of joints after buying his half kilo.

[Nattefrost]

Wow, that is incredibally lucky.

[Brash]

Gotta love the young Aussie passion for narco-tourism

[Dave The Nefarious]

I have little sympathy for these 'drug mules' ... yes a lot of foreign laws are too harsh and the punishment doesnt fit the crime, but everybody knows that's what happens if you get caught there! We've all seen it time and time on the news, yet they continue to take the risk, even despite all the increased security at airports these days

[2dogs]

I reckon him being 5 grams under might have been a contingency. Just in case. But still, 5-20 years for possessing banned flowers is just not cricket. It would not be easy time there I imagine.

[DownUnderDoper]

I have little sympathy for these 'drug mules' ... yes a lot of foreign laws are too harsh and the punishment doesnt fit the crime, but everybody knows that's what happens if you get caught there! We've all seen it time and time on the news, yet they continue to take the risk, even despite all the increased security at airports these days

 

 

This guy was no mule.. he lives in Singapore and has done for some time, local dealer perhaps?

 

 

A FORMER Adelaide man has been accused of trafficking cannabis in Singapore, where Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged for drug smuggling.

Michael Karras, 38, allegedly had four slabs of greenish matter, weighing 495g and believed to be cannabis, in his Singapore flat, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

 

Under the city state's tough drug laws, trafficking 500g or more of cannabis is punishable by death.

 

The slabs were found last week, and Mr Karras has since been arrested.

 

Yesterday his mother, who did not want her name published, said she had contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to obtain more information about the reported arrest of her son.

 

"I don't know anything . . . and nothing has been confirmed at this stage," she said.

 

"I have just been on the phone to (DFAT) to try to get some extra information, but I can't get anything at the moment."

 

Mr Karras had lived in Singapore for a long time, his mother said.

 

"He hasn't been here for many years," she said.

If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in jail and between five and 15 strokes of the cane.

 

Nguyen was hanged on December 2, 2005, after his conviction for trafficking in heroin, despite pleas for his life from Prime Minister John Howard and international human rights groups.

 

Nguyen was caught three years earlier at Changi Airport carrying nearly 400g of the drug in transit from Cambodia to his Melbourne home.

 

A DFAT spokesman confirmed yesterday that a 38-year-old man from South Australia had been arrested in Singapore on drug-related charges.

 

"The Australian High Commission in Singapore is providing assistance to the man," the spokesman said.

 

"Consul officers from the department in Canberra are providing assistance to the man's family in Australia."

[auspamp]

Hang on there NotDave, you wouldn't want to be considered as one of those "spoon fed media types, guilty untill proven innocent types, damn the pot smoker types, etc". You have jumped to conclusions before the bloke has even faced trial, let alone sentenced, based on media input. What happened to "innocent untill prove guilty."

 

The dude was not called a "drug-mule" by any of the reporting reporters. It said (quote) "38 year old Michael Karras was allegedly caught with 495 grams of cannabis in his apartment."

 

Now an apartment in my views is a relatively short to long term place of occupation. It does not say HOTEL, like the bali-9 for example. No one has said this guy is a trafficker, only the police have insinuated it, and therefore charged him with it. Maybe he was actually living there, or staying there for an extended period of time.

 

For example, if you was a personal grower, how would you like to pull a harvest of 495 grams, and get raided that night? Perhaps you would be charged with "intent to supply a controlled substance". Even though you may have no intentions of selling any of it, the media faggots have no way of interpreting it other than what is spoon fed to them.

 

How about sticking up for a fellow Australian when he is down on his luck. We abhor these draconian laws, in relation to excessive sentences for cannabis users, so why not do something about it. Write a "letter to the editor" note to your local newspaper, saying how you think these excessive sentences are a moral crime. If we don't do something then we will end up the same under Howard (remember the thing on the Asten by election where he said.......I will do everything in my power to stop cannabis legalisation....... or something along those lines.

The fact that a 38 year old Australian man may be locked up, in a foreign prison, untill he is 58, for a victemless crime is enough reason to protest, lest it happen here. . Fuck mate, I respect your opinion on a lot of things, but this is to far. You seemed to have judged him before he was even proven guilty.

 

 

 

<edit> DownUnderDoper - beat me to the point

Edited January 17, 2007 by auspamp

[DownUnderDoper]

sorry man.. here have your thunder back