Malaysia is known as one of the countries with the toughest drug laws. However, in this case, the death sentences against three Mexican brothers who were set to be hanged for drug trafficking in Malaysia have been commuted by the sultan of the southern Malaysian state of Johor, ABC News told on Friday (21/09).
It does not come very easy as the process itself took years of lobbying by Mexican diplomats. Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor admitted that he has commuted their death sentences, and serves new sentences of 30 years in prison commencing from the day of the pardon instead. The minister said on Thursday (20/09), “This was the result of a long process and intense dialogue with Malaysian federal authorities.”
The story began in March 2008 when the Mexican brothers—Simon, Luis Alfonso, and Jose Regino Gonzalez Villareal—were found to have more than 29 kilograms of methamphetamine at a methamphetamine lab in Johor. They were all arrested during a raid.
As part of follow-ups, these brothers were convicted of drug trafficking by Malaysia’s High Court four years after, in May 2012 to be precise, in which this crime comes with the penalty of death by hanging.
The conviction was upheld on appeal the following year, and the court announced the death sentences in 2015, as the brothers’ pleas had failed.
The Mexican brothers come from the Sinaloa state of Mexico, which is home to Mexico’s drug trade cradle. Further investigations showed these brothers had no criminal record since they were in Mexico until the day they were arrested. Moreover, based on their family, these brothers left Mexico for Malaysia to find a better opportunity and they have no signs of drug trade throughout their life.