An Australian woman, Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, has been sentenced to death by a Malaysian court after being found guilty of drug trafficking. The 54-year-old grandmother was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in December 2014 while transiting from Shanghai to Melbourne, carrying 1.1kg of crystal methamphetamine.
Exposto was initially acquitted of all charges in December 2017, with the court accepting her defence that she was unaware of the drugs in her luggage, having fallen victim to an online romance scam. However, prosecutors appealed, and a panel of three judges overturned the acquittal, imposing the mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking in Malaysia.
Under Malaysian law, possession of 50g or more of crystal meth is considered trafficking, carrying a mandatory death penalty by hanging. Exposto's lawyer argued she was tricked by a man she met online, but the judge described her as 'naive' and said her 'feelings of love had overcome everything'.
Three Australians have previously been executed for drug offences in Malaysia: Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers in 1986, and Michael McAuliffe in 1993. Exposto remains in custody pending any further legal appeals.
