Hakim Hayat

The Bandar Magistrate’s Court sentenced a Malaysian national to 32 months in prison and three strokes of cane following his guilty plea to charges of being in possession of contraband goods, using a fake name and Brunei identification card (IC) and overstaying his social visit pass.

The sentence was handed by Magistrate Kamaliah Fadhilah binti Haji Ibrahim after the defendant, Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah, 27, pleaded guilty to all charges on Wednesday.

Earlier during court proceedings, the defendant was ordered to pay a BND65,400 fine after being convicted of possessing 19 cartons and 80 packs of cigarettes, 12 bottles and 48 cans of alcoholic beverages and 18 packets of bishop’s nose that were smuggled into the country, where in default of payment, he has to serve 26 months in prison.

Meanwhile, a six-month prison term and three strokes of the cane were handed down to the defendant for giving a fake name and identification card to a customs officer on duty and for overstaying his social visit pass.

Court documents stated that the defendant was found with the contraband items on two separate occasions on January 22, 2020 around 4pm in the vicinity of the Gadong night market and at Kampong Parit at around 8pm on February 10, 2020. All the items were found in his car by customs enforcement officers who received a tip-off from the public.

During his arrest, he presented a fake name and a fake IC to officers on duty. His social visit pass was also found to have expired on February 18, 2017.

The prosecution was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Nurjauinah binti Haji Kula.