Married Couple Facing Death Penalty Charged in Ipoh for Trafficking 480g of MDMA

IPOH, Aug 12 — A married couple faced drug trafficking charges at the Magistrate’s Court today after allegedly being caught with 480.6 grammes of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) during a raid last week.

Teoh Wai Loon, 44, and his wife, Lim Suk Pei, 38, nodded in understanding as the charge was read out before Magistrate S. Punitha. However, no plea was recorded from either accused because capital offenses fall strictly under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

According to the charge sheet, the couple is jointly accused of trafficking 480.6 grammes of MDMA at Room M333, The Pearl Orient Sdn Bhd, Bercham Bistari 4, Medan Bercham Bistari, within the Kinta district. The alleged offense occurred at approximately 10.30 pm on August 4.

The charge is framed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, and punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act. Upon conviction, the offense carries the death penalty or life imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of 12 strokes of the cane if the death sentence is not imposed.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Zulqarnain Wan Asmira conducted the prosecution, while both Teoh and Lim were unrepresented in court.

Magistrate Punitha set December 7 for case mention to allow the prosecution time to obtain the full chemical analysis report.

The court charge follows an anti-narcotics operation on August 6, in which police arrested seven individuals—including the husband and wife—believed to be key operatives in a drug trafficking syndicate that had been active since June.

The operation spanned four separate raids across Ipoh and Tapah, yielding substantial seizures of ketamine and MDMA, including approximately 2.6 kilogrammes of MDMA discovered at two houses in Tapah. The total illicit drugs seized were valued at RM538,451, alongside three seized vehicles worth RM224,000 and cash totaling RM32,376.

–NMT