Judge Abdul Rahman Sebli said the High Court’s decision against Ariff Arhannan Che Udin, 30, was safe despite the defence contending that the trial judge was wrong to admit the accused’s evidence of conduct.

The defence had contended that the judge was wrong because a caution was not administered under the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA).

Rahman, who delivered the judgment of the three-member bench, said: “It is clear that evidence of conduct is relevant and admissible under section 8(2) of the Evidence Act.”

He said the issue before the High Court was whether Ariff had knowledge of the drugs inside a black bag.

Ariff’s conduct of picking the bag and handing it to police officer Firdaus Ashaari was clearly relevant to the issue, he said.

Rahman said “the argument must fail once it is determined that the conduct does not amount to a statement”.

“We are, therefore, unable to accept the learned counsel’s argument that the prosecution cannot rely on section 8(2) of the Evidence Act on grounds that there is a special Act (DDA) to deal with admissibility of a statement,” he said.

“The appeal is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is affirmed.”

Ariff was in possession of 721.26gm of cannabis at a house on Jalan Kemuning, Senawang on July 23, 2017.

One is presumed to be a trafficker if the weight of cannabis is 200gm or more.

Deputy public prosecutor Aslinda Ahad appeared for the prosecution while Hisyam Teh Poh Teik represented Ariff.