S'pore hangs 2 for drug trafficking

S'pore hangs 2 for drug trafficking

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Singapore hanged two men on Friday for drug trafficking, a prison official said.

Singaporean Loh Kim Cheng, 31, and Malaysian Mohd Ariff Bin Mat Rifin, 39, were sentenced to death for drug trafficking in 1997 and 1996 respectively, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The city-state executed 16 people in 1997 for various offenses, at least 10 of them for drug trafficking. Friday's execution brings the number of people hanged so far this year to 10, of whom eight were drug traffickers.

Singapore's tough antidrug laws include a mandatory death sentence for anyone over 18 guilty of trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of morphine or 500 grams of cannabis.

Of the more than 300 people hanged in Singapore since 1975, more than half were convicted drug traffickers.