PONTIAN: A man was charged in the Magistrate's Court here today with four counts of drug trafficking and possession involving more than 6.4kg of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), syabu and ketamine.

Lau Keat Lim, 35, who is unemployed, nodded to indicate he understood the charges after they were read before Magistrate Arina Azmin Ahmad Marzuki.

For the first charge, Lau was accused of trafficking 6,404.16g (6.4kg) of MDMA.

He also faced three additional charges of drug possession, namely, 20.04g and 1.06g of syabu, and 5.66g of ketamine.

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Lau pleaded not guilty to all three possession charges.

The offences were allegedly committed at a house in Taman Mutiara here at about 6.10pm on May 21.

For the trafficking offence, Lau was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty, or life imprisonment of up to 40 years and no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane, if not sentenced to death.

For drug possession, he was charged under Section 12(2) of the same Act, which carries a maximum fine of RM100,000, or a jail term of up to five years, or both, upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Anis Sahira Rosley appeared for the prosecution, while Lau was unrepresented.

Earlier, the accused claimed he did not understand the charges, prompting the magistrate to instruct the court interpreter to read them again.

Lau later said that he understood and entered a plea of not guilty to the three possession charges.

No bail was offered by the prosecution due to the severity of the trafficking charge, which carries the death penalty.

The court ordered that no bail be granted and instructed the accused to appoint legal representation before trial.

The magistrate fixed mention for all three cases on Aug 5 for submission of the chemistry report.

On May 25, Johor police chief Datuk M. Kumar said a 35-year-old man had been arrested after police seized more than 6.4kg (6,404.16g) of various drugs worth over RM1.07 million.