Odd-job worker Mohd Yusri Mohd Yusof, 37, and S Selvakumar, 38, a former employee of an antique shop, were each jailed for 22 years and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan after they pleaded guilty to the reduced charge.

A three-member Court of Appeal bench chaired by Kamaludin Md Said said the two should consider themselves lucky because the prosecution was agreeable to reducing the charge.

“Both of you were spared the death sentence but in future you must always check the contents that you are being asked to carry,” he said.

Kamaludin, who sat with Lee Heng Cheong and Ghazali Cha, also ordered the jail term to begin from the date of their arrests.

Yusri, represented by Anwar Ezzat, and Selvakumar were initially charged with trafficking 24.4kg and 21.9kg of cannabis respectively in two cars near a bridge in Kuala Selangor on Oct 4, 2015.

Earlier, Selvakumar’s lawyer, S Jayananda Rao, said the trial judge had failed to observe the “Radhi direction” as decided by the Federal Court.

He explained that if during trial an accused person could show that there was a real trafficker, the judge must conduct a separate exercise to determine whether that was true.

“He did not do that. ‘Abang’ is the trafficker and his name came through a prosecution witness during trial,” he said.

It was also revealed that the two had put up a defence that they were carrying contraband cigarettes.

Khairul Effendi or Joe, who was arrested with the two but later ordered to undergo preventive detention, said he told police the prohibited items were cigarettes from Indonesia.

According to the facts of the case, Yusri and Selvakumar drove the cars hired by Joe, who was taking instructions from “Abang”.

It was also revealed during trial that Joe was a spotter to detect any roadblock.

On the day of the incident, Yusri and Selvakumar were blocked by a police car following a tip-off.

However, Joe had reached Klang but “Abang” called him to check on Yusri and Selvakumar because they were not responding to phone calls.

“Joe was arrested with the two. They were remanded for nine days after which Yusri and Selvakumar were charged with trafficking,” Jayananda said.

At this juncture, Kamaludin asked deputy public prosecutor Parvin Hameedah Mohd Khaja whether she would consider reducing the charge.

During a short break, Parvin consulted her superiors, who agreed to the suggestion.