Judge Wendy Ooi made the ruling after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against Amiruddin Abd Hadi, 30, V Vijandran Nair, 35, and Faiz Ahmad, 36.

She said there were serious weaknesses in the case presented by the prosecution against the three accused.

In the brief judgment, Ooi said there were contradictions in the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, particularly regarding the identification of the case items and the number of boxes seized.

“The court also took note of the failure of the police to submit photographs taken during the seizure, in addition to the failure to submit the original closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.

“In addition, the investigating officer failed to examine the evidence presented by the accused, thereby undermining the credibility of the prosecution’s case and prejudicing the defence. As such, the three accused are acquitted and discharged without being called to enter their defence,” said Ooi.

The three men were jointly charged with trafficking methamphetamine near a house in Taman Batu Caves, Gombak, at about 3pm on Aug 6, 2021.

The charge, framed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same law, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, provides for the death sentence or life imprisonment if convicted.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Ainul Mardiyah Ali.

Amiruddin was represented by lawyers Nik Saiful Adli Burhan, Asri Abdul Hamid and Yusuf Idris, while lawyers Zulkifli Awang and Ruzaini Zulkifli represented Vijandran. Geethan Ram Vincent appeared for Faiz.