Indian-origin man gets 13 years jail for possessing cannabis in Singapore
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Jan, 2023 12:19 PM
Singapore, Jan 10 (IANS) An Indian-origin man has been sentenced to 13 years in jail and 10 strokes of the cane for possessing 523.6g of cannabis for trafficking in Singapore.
Narkkeeran Arasan, 45, who pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking controlled drugs, admitted during the probe that he was facing financial stress and wanted to sell cannabis to get fast cash, The Straits Times reported.
The Central Narcotics Bureau acted on information received and arrested Narkkeeran in Woodlands while he was a passenger in a Grab car on April 12, 2021.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tessa Tan said during the search of the car a block of vegetable matter wrapped in several layers of plastic which was taped up was found in the bag.
In July 2021, Health Sciences Authority after analysis certified that the vegetable matter was cannabis weighing at least 523.6g.
At least 413.6g of fragmented vegetable matter from the same block was also found to contain cannabinol and tetrahydrocannabinol, a cannabinol derivative.
"The mixture of vegetable matter (stated) above, weighing not less than 937.2g, was therefore cannabis mixture," Tan was quoted as saying in the paper.
The court was told that Narkkeeran ordered one "book of cannabis", which he understood to mean 1 kg in weight, on April 11, 2021, from a contact known to him as "R and R".
He paid $3,000 for it, the paper reported.
An offender may be jailed for between five and 20 years, and may receive between five and 15 strokes of the cane for possessing at least 329.99g of cannabis for trafficking.
A California man has been charged with hate crimes and robbery after he attacked and robbed 14 South Asian women, mostly wearing sarees and bindis. The estimated worth of all the stolen necklaces is about $35,000.
Mystery deepened in the case of a kidnapped Indian-origin family in California as officials reported that a person was taken into custody in connection with the case after he attempted suicide and the truck belonging to one of the victims was found burning. But still missing is the kidnapped family - eight-month-old baby Aroohi Dheri, her parents, Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36, and uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39.
The R37.7 million (Rs 17.2 crore) fraud case against two Indian-origin associates of the Gupta brothers has been postponed. The Estina dairy farm project was reportedly supposed to empower black farmers. But bank statements showed that it was being used to swindle cash, with high-profile government officials. The money was paid into the company's Bank of Baroda account in India.
The lawsuit has been filed against Colorado-based Global Medical Response (GMR), and companies under it, American Medical Response (AMR) and its subsidiaries, for turning away a qualified paramedic in midst of a global pandemic. In November 2020, AMR dismissed Singh after he requested and was denied personal protective equipment (PPE) that would accommodate his turban and beard.
Merced County Sheriff's Office on Monday, said in a statement that 36-year-old Jasdeep Singh, 27-year-old Jasleen Kaur, their eight-month-old child and relative 39-year-old Amandeep Singh were taken "against their will from a business." They have asked for public's help in locating the four missing persons.
In Dongara, some 351 km northwest of Perth, more than a century-old leather-bound book containing entries written in Gurmukhi - the official script of the Punjabi language - has been found.
