SINGAPORE: A woman who packed and delivered cannabis mixtures for fast cash was sentenced to jail for 16 years on Monday (Jul 14).
Pang Lilian, a 42-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with another 13 charges taken into consideration.
Across both proceeded charges, Pang had 17 packets containing almost 1kg of cannabis mixture for trafficking.
According to Pang’s lawyer, Ms Azeera Ali from the Public Defender’s Office, she began delivering drugs “out of financial desperation” to meet the mounting medical bills of her mother.
Pang initially began delivering drugs for an unidentified person she knew as “Shopee”. Around mid-2023, a person who was referred to as “John Wick” approached her to do more drug delivery jobs.
Around May 2024, Pang accepted a job from John Wick to be a packer. She took on jobs for receiving, packing and selling various controlled drugs for profit.
John Wick would tell her where to collect the drugs to be repacked and sold. For each ad-hoc bulk order, she was paid between S$300 (US$230) and S$500. For packing drugs, she received S$20, and S$25 for sending drugs.
After some time, she received an increment of S$5 for drug deliveries and received S$30 per delivery.
Past midnight on Jun 6, 2024, a party of Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers attended to a report of drug exhibits being delivered.
They found that packets of drugs had been placed near Block 650 Hougang Avenue 8 for delivery to various recipients.
These included packets of methamphetamine weighing a total of 8.9g, a vape device with cannabinol inside, packets of vegetable matter, tablets imprinted with images of animated character Spongebob Squarepants that contained amphetamine and ketamine and MDMA, packets of ketamine and other drugs.
Pang had placed the drugs behind the water pipe between certain levels at the block to be trafficked to other people.
PREVIOUS DRUG CONVICTION
The prosecutor sought 16 to 20 years’ jail for Pang, saying she was involved in drug delivery and packing for a lengthy period of time before she was caught.
She had also packed the drugs to earn a profit, and the amount of drugs in this case was substantial.
Pang also has a previous drug conviction from 2015, for which she received three years’ jail.
Pang’s lawyer told the court that 15 to 17 years’ jail would be sufficient.
She said Pang was taking care of her elderly, sick mother, who was visually impaired and had various illnesses.
Pang’s mother needed constant care and assistance with tasks like eating and showering, and Pang was involved in caregiving almost 24/7 and was unable to hold on to a full-time job.
Her father, a part-time cleaner, earned only about S$80 daily and had medical ailments, so the entire financial burden fell on Pang, with no help from her other family members, said the lawyer.
“She is ashamed to have turned to drugs,” said the lawyer, as Pang wiped her eyes with her shirt in the dock.
“Her mother, who has since died in November 2024, would have been upset with her actions,” said the lawyer, adding that Pang was diagnosed with major depressive disorder late last year.
The lawyer said Pang was already facing a jail term five times higher than her previous one. Once released, she wishes to spend time with her elderly father.
The judge agreed with the prosecution in that the gravity of a trafficking offence is measured by the quantity of drugs, but took note of the mitigation and imposed the lower end of the sentence sought by the prosecution.
