[Sativa]

Singapore officials seized more than 20kg of marijuana and detained a Ghanaian man and a Zambian woman for suspected drug trafficking, which carries a possible death penalty, the Central Narcotics Bureau said.

The marijuana, with a street value of 410 000 Singapore dollars (about R1,9-million), was seized on Monday, the bureau said.

The 21-year-old Zambian woman arrived in Singapore from Johannesburg on Monday with 14 one-kilogram packets of marijuana hidden in her luggage, the bureau said in a statement dated Tuesday on its website. She checked into a hotel and was soon met by the 29-year-old Ghanaian man, who took the marijuana, it said.

Narcotics officers had been trailing the man, and took him into custody with the drugs, the statement said. They found another 6,6kg of marijuana in his rented room, it said.

The man is being investigated for suspected trafficking and drug possession, while the woman is being held for suspected trafficking, the statement said.

It said the marijuana seizure was "one of the largest" in Singapore in years. The Straits Times newspaper said it was the largest in a decade.

Singapore has some of the world's toughest drug laws, including a mandatory death penalty for anyone found guilty of trafficking more than 15g of heroin or more than 500g of marijuana.

The city-state says the death penalty serves as an effective deterrent against a crime that ruins lives.



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Source: Independent Online
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