S'porean man, 73, previously jailed for armed robbery case, appealing death sentence for heroin trafficking

A Singaporean man, who went out on his personal mobility device (PMD) to collect a bag of heroin in exchange for S$9,000 in 2019, was sentenced to death after being convicted of drug trafficking.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Low Sze Song, 73, was found guilty of trafficking heroin.

His accomplice was 37-year-old Malaysian national Sivaprakash Krishnan.

Both men went on trial together in July 2022 and were found guilty of trafficking at least 43.2g of pure heroin — an amount which exceeded the 15g threshold for the mandatory death penalty under Singapore law — and were sentenced to death.

They appealed against their sentences, with the Court of Appeal recently hearing the case.

The case

Shin Min reported that at about 5:40am on May 30, 2019, Low was riding his PMD at the ground floor of Block 326A Sumang Walk in Punggol.

About 40 minutes later, at a nearby bus stop, Sivaprakash arrived on a motorcycle and handed Low a white plastic bag containing packets of drugs.

In exchange, Low passed him S$9,000 in cash.

Both men were separately arrested by CNB officers soon after.

In their defence, Low and Sivaprakash argued that they had no knowledge of the nature of the drugs.

However, the judge rejected their claims.

According to The Straits Times, the judge noted that Low’s assertion that he did not check the contents of the bag was contradicted by undisputed evidence showing that his DNA was found on the inside of the plastic bag.

Low had also argued that the circumstances were not sufficiently suspicious to warrant further inquiry.

This was so as he did not deem the S$9,000 to be a large sum of money due to his past involvement in offences, such as armed robbery, secret society activities and credit card fraud.

The judge dismissed this, saying that the substantial sum of money involved would have raised questions in the mind of any reasonable person.

In his argument, Sivaprakash claimed he believed he was delivering “paan parak”, a form of betel nuts, at the request of an acquaintance.

However, the judge found his argument unconvincing, pointing out that Sivaprakash was unable to explain why such items would need to be delivered “in such a clandestine manner”, why he was paid RM1,000 (around S$321) for the delivery, and why he received S$9,000 from Low.

Prosecutors also argued that the two men were in possession of four packets of drugs, pointing to DNA evidence found on the drug bundles, as well as on the plastic bag used during the exchange.

In response, Low said Sivaprakash had handed him only three packets.

He claimed that a fourth packet, which was later found to contain 8.64g of heroin, was not recovered from his PMD.

In support of his case, Low pointed to a photo showing a plastic bag containing three packets of drugs.

The photo was used by a CNB officer when recording Low’s statement, during which Low was not questioned about a fourth packet.

However, the judge found that the fourth drug bundle had in fact been recovered from the PMD.

Though he noted the omission of the fourth packet from the photograph initially raised concerns, he said the testimonies of the arresting CNB officers regarding the search of the PMD were convincing and supported by a record in one of the officers' field diary entries.

Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, Low’s DNA was detected on the adhesive portion of the taped packaging of the fourth packet.

As such, the judge concluded the omission could have been a procedural lapse rather than a material gap in the evidence, and did not give rise to a reasonable doubt that the fourth drug packet had been recovered from the PMD.

Involved in 1991 robbery

Shin Min confirmed with Low's lawyer that Low was previously involved in the 1991 Nan Yi Jeweller robbery at North Bridge Road.

According to earlier reports, Low and two accomplices carried out a series of robberies on April 4, 1991, at the Cuppage Plaza car park.

Low acted as the getaway driver, while his accomplices, armed with knives, robbed six victims at the car park.

The group succeeded in four of the robberies, making off with valuables totalling S$3,153.

The following day, one of the accomplices, Steven Ang Keng Leong, told Low of a plan to rob Nan Yi Jeweller.

Low again acted as the getaway driver.

That afternoon, Ang posed as a customer and entered the shop.

Afterwards, he pulled out a chopper and carried out the robbery.

He quickly filled two plastic bags with gold jewellery and also stuffed some items into his pockets.

Low later fled to Thailand and Malaysia to evade capture.

In 2001, he was arrested and convicted of armed robbery in Malaysia, where he was sentenced to 18 years' jail.

Low was deported back to Singapore in 2013, where he was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and banned from driving for five years following his release.

His appeal is pending and he is now facing the death penalty following his conviction in the present drug trafficking case.

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News and court documents