Couple sentenced on cannabis charges to be deported to Malaysia

The judge said that, given his somewhat lesser role as a courier, she imposed a prison sentence of 40 months.

Because Lim had also been in custody since January last year and had effectively already served the sentence, he will now be taken from Maghaberry Prison to a detention center before the couple is deported back to Malaysia.

At an earlier hearing, Zhe and Lim pleaded guilty to various offenses relating to the possession, importation, conspiracy to import and supply of Class B cannabis between May 31, 2022 and February 4 last year.

Zhe, who had a “mixed role of courier and manager”, admitted 27 offences, while drug courier Lim pleaded guilty to 17 offences.

Two other men, Justin Soon, 36, of Portallo Street in Belfast, and Chue Yuan, 58, with an address c/o HMO Wormwood Scrubs in London, also entered guilty pleas for similar offenses but they did not appear in court on Tuesday. .

The judge told the court that Zhe was first arrested on January 24 last year when police stopped and searched him as he walked along Springfield Road.

Hidden in his backpack was a kilo of cannabis, as well as two mobile phones and two sets of keys.

When police used one of those kits to search Zhe’s bedroom, they seized another 2.9kg of cannabis.

The search also yielded documents relating to rental agreements for numerous rental properties, the judge said.