4 European men charged in Malaysia drug case

(KUALA LUMPUR) - Four European men have been charged together with six others for drug trafficking, which carries the death penalty upon conviction in Malaysia, a lawyer and police said Thursday.

A district court in northern Kedah state charged the men with drug trafficking at a factory in the state on November 11, said lawyer Dev Kumaraendran, who represents one of the accused Malaysians.

Federal narcotics chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim told AFP that those charged include a Dutch, a French and two British. There are also two Singaporeans, one Chinese, and the rest are Malaysians.

No plea was recorded from the accused, and the court will reconvene on January 19 to assess a report on the seized drugs, Dev said.

The men are charged with trafficking 3.45 kilogrammes (7.6 pounds) of a type of methamphetamine that was found at the factory.

Police say the arrests of Europeans for drug trafficking is rare. The Southeast Asian nation is known for its tough anti-drug laws. A conviction carries the mandatory death penalty by hanging.

Since 1960 more than 440 people have been executed, while some 700 prisoners are on death row, mostly for drug trafficking, according to the government.

Last month, a Malaysian high court sentenced a Japanese to hang for smuggling methamphetamine into the country. The former nurse is appealing her sentence.