{
  "id": 17180460,
  "title": "Couple jailed 30 years for trafficking 172kg of methamphetamine",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/couple-jailed-30-years-for-trafficking-172kg-of-methamphetamine",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-30T05:20:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2026/10/1566854/couple-jailed-30-years-trafficking-172kg-methamphetamine"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Two individuals, Adam Tan Seng Tek, a former fisherman, and Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, a Vietnamese woman, have been sentenced to 30 years in prison for trafficking over 172 kilograms of methamphetamine in Malaysia. The High Court convicted the pair after ruling that they failed to challenge the prosecution's case. Judge Nurulhuda Nur aini Mohamad Nor ordered them to start serving their sentence from their arrest on February 24, 2022, and Tan received 12 strokes of the rotan. Tan's sister was visibly emotional in the public gallery. The prosecution presented direct evidence, including screenshots and photographs, of the couple's belongings found at the scene, establishing elements of possession and knowledge that implied trafficking. The court found that the defense did not raise a reasonable doubt against the prosecution's case, thus affirming the statutory presumption of trafficking. The couple was charged with trafficking the drugs in a condominium unit in Residensi Kiara Jalil 1 at 9:30pm on February 24, 2022. The sentence carries a potential death penalty or life imprisonment if not the death penalty, with a minimum of 15 strokes of the rotan if not death. Despite requests for life sentences by defense lawyer Kee Wei Lon, Deputy Public Prosecutor Goh Ai Rene emphasized the serious nature of the offense and the need for a severe sentence, citing the government's declaration of drugs as Malaysia's top enemy since 1983.",
  "summary": "KUALA LUMPUR: A former fisherman and his Vietnamese girlfriend were each sentenced to 30 years in prison after the High Court found them guilty of trafficking more than 172kg of methamphetamine in 2022.",
  "key_points": [
    "Adam Tan and Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh sentenced to 30 years for meth trafficking.",
    "Court found defense did not raise reasonable doubt against prosecution.",
    "Sentence includes 12 rotan strokes for Tan, potential death penalty."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The heavy sentencing reflects Malaysia's long-standing judicial commitment to treating large-scale narcotics distribution as a primary national security threat requiring the most severe legal deterrents.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}