Foreigners to hang for drug trafficking in M'sia

Three Mexican brothers were sentenced to death by hanging in Malaysia on Thursday for their part in a methamphetamine production operation. The Gonzalez Villarreals - Luis Alfonso, 44, Simon, 37 and Jose Regino, 33 - were convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to hang by the Kuala Lumpur High Court along with a Malaysian and a Singaporean. The two others sentenced to death were Malaysian Lee Boon Siah, 47, and Singaporean Lim Hung Wang, 55. The suspects were arrested at a factory in southern Malaysia in 2008, with police seizing almost 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of methamphetamine and chemicals used to produce the drug. "The court finds all five accused are guilty of the charge against them," High Court Judge Mohamed Zawawi Salleh said, announcing the verdict. "All five accused were aware and were involved in the activity of drug making... The offence is serious," he added. Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death penalty in Malaysia, though executions are not publicly announced and activists say few people are thought to have been hanged in recent years. The five men's lawyers said they would appeal the verdict, which can take years to go through the Court of Appeal and if necessary the Federal Court. The three brothers, who come from Mexico's northern Sinaloa state, are believed to be the first Mexicans sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Malaysia. The three, wearing jeans, T-shirts and sandals, handcuffed to each other and each carrying their belongings in a white bag, looked ashen-faced and shaken after the verdict was read out. "We are very sad. We thought we are going to be acquitted," the eldest, Luis Alfonso, said in Spanish. Lawyers for the Mexican brothers had argued that the evidence was tampered with. The accused testified they were merely workers taken to the premises to clean them and were unaware of any illegal activity. Juan Manuel Gonzalez, the deputy chief of mission at the Mexican Embassy, said his government respected the verdict and would continue to monitor the appeal process. "We respect the Malaysian legal system. The only thing we want is that the rights of these three Mexicans are respected, and they have a fair and transparent trial," he told AFP. Source: Agencies Published May 17 2012