S'porean drug trafficker, 58, avoids death penalty by 0.01g, gets 31 years' jail

A 58-year-old Singaporean man will be jailed 31 years for trafficking and consuming 14.99g of heroin, just 0.01g short of the amount that warrants the death penalty.

Mesnawi Dahri, 58, pleaded guilty on Jun. 3, 2025, The Straits Times reported.

Of the four charges, three for drug offences, and one count of possession of S$18,050 in benefits from drug dealing.

First charge

According to the Misuse of Dugs Act (MDA), a person convicted of trafficking more than 15g of pure heroin, which is a Class A controlled drug, will face a mandatory death sentence, while those possessing between 10g and 15g face either a maximum of 30 years' jail, or imprisonment for life and 15 strokes of the cane.

Court documents stated that Mesnawi was arrested by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers on Jan. 27, 2023 near Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, while he was attempting to flag a taxi to ferry him to Commonwealth to deliver drugs.

Laboratory tests by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) confirmed that a total of no less than 713g of heroin and four Ecstasy pills were found in a black tote bag he was carrying at this time, which he had collected from a bicycle rack in the vicinity.

Investigations found that, like on numerous previous occasions, Mesnawi was acting on the instructions of an unknown person known as "Tua Tau", whom he had known since the 1990s.

For his deliveries, Mesnawi was paid between S$200 and S$300 per delivery of one "biji" of heroin by "Tua Tau", as well as reimbursements for transport expenses and a supply of drugs for personal consumption on some occasions.

Mesnawi was originally charged for possessing no less that 15g of heroin in this instance, but various mitigating factors allowed for the charge to be adjusted to him possessing no less than 14.99g of heroin with the purpose of trafficking, with a maximum sentence of 30 years' jail.

Second and third charge

Other drugs, articles and S$28,050 worth of cash were also seized from his home, of which S$18,050 was found to have been earned from delivering drugs as per "Tua Tau"'s instructions.

For this, Mesnawi committed the offence of acquiring, possessing, using, concealing or transferring benefits of drug dealing, which is punishable with a maximum fine of S$500,000, imprisonment of no more than 10 years, or both.

Court documents showed that the cash was wrapped in black tape in Mesnawi's drawer, so as to not let his daughter know he was committing drug offences.

Fourth charge

Mesnawi's urine samples provided at CNB headquarters also tested positive for ice and monoacetylmorphine, a type of heroin, which he had consumed sometime before or on the day of his arrest on Jan. 27, 2023.

He was also found to have had a previous conviction of drug consumption in 2008, where he was sentenced to six years and six months' jail and three strokes of the cane..

Taking his previous offence into account, his drug consumption offence was punishable by imprisonment of not less than seven years and not more than 13 years, as well as no less than six strokes and no more than 12 strokes of the cane.

For all four charges, Mesnawi was initially given 25 to 26 years' jail for the possession of heroin, eight years for his consumption of ice and eight to 12 weeks for the money laundered from his drug dealings.

The total term was set to be between 33 to 34 years' imprisonment.

As Mesnawi had indicated his intention to plead guilty early on, a 10 per cent leniency was applied to the first charge, reducing his sentence to a total of 31 years.

He is unrepresented and has filed an appeal against his sentence, ST reported.

He has been in remand since Jan. 27, 2023.

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