Brunei Direct, BSB, 9 June 2002

Runaway Drug Convict Caught In Kuala Baram Pub

By Dyg Julie

Bandar Seri Begawan - A convicted drug trafficker, Sahari bin Hj Osman @ Hj Othman, 42, who escaped following his sentence on January 31, was caught when the Miri Narcotic Bureau and the Miri police arrested him at a Karaoke pub in Kuala Baram on midnight Wednesday.

Sahari was on the loose since he was sentenced to seven years in jail and four strokes of the rattan.

He was put on the wanted list as he was convicted of three charges of drug trafficking, consuming drugs and possessing drug utensils.

On the run since his conviction Sahari was caught on June 6 at about 12.30 midnight in Jiffny Karaoke and Pub in Kuala Baram, in Sarawak, near the Brunei border the court was told.

Since the defendant is not awaiting trial or under remand and sentence had already been passed in January, Narcotics Control Bureau sought the court's permission for warrant of committal to be executed.

Sahari was caught at the pub with four other Malaysians, who were released without any suspicion of being linked with drug-related activities or conspiring with the defendant's hideaway.

While he was detained in Miri, police locked him up and was then further investigated.

On the same day, Brunei Narcotics Control Bureau officers went down to Miri and brought Sahari back to Brunei and he was remanded ever since. And yesterday, Sahari officially began his sentence in Jerudong Prison.