Backpacker bungalow drug bust
Shivaun, the daughter of prominent British nuclear physicist Mike Orton, is pictured with one of her children
A Malaysian backpacker bungalow operator in Cherating and his British wife, the daughter of nuclear physicist are facing the death penalty after police found RM66,703 worth of cannabis, amphetamine, ecstasy and heroin in their house.
Abdul Harris Fadilah, 46, confessed that the 225 grams of heroin seized by police was his.
He and his wife Shivaun Orton, 41, are being held in Kemaman police station in Terengganu on suspicion of drug dealing after being remanded in custody until Sunday.
One of the bungalows in the Ranting Resort
Abdul Harris is Shivaun's second husband. The couple, who have two sons, aged 14 and 16, run the Ranting Resort, offering RM62-a-night backpacker bungalows on the beach in Cherating.
According to the Daily Mail, he got his wife hooked on heroin after she threatened to leave him and return to the UK.
Shivaun is the daughter of prominent British nuclear physicist Mike Orton, who died of cancer in April last year.
Shivaun grew up in the Welsh coastal town of Harlech. It is understood that Mike Orton and his wife, Shirley, 67, were estranged from their daughter.
Orton had, hoever, tried to make contact with his daughter before his death but failed.
Her parents had not spoken to her for more than five years.
Possession or dealing of cannabis, amphetamine and ecstasy carries a sentence of life imprisonment in Malaysia, but possession of more than 15 grams of heroin carries the death penalty. Execution is by hanging.
British nuclear physicist Mike Orton died of cancer in April last year
The Daily Mail reported that Shivaun admitted five cannabis plants found in her bedroom were hers and for personal consumption only, but denied possession of the heroin.
Officers from the Malaysian narcotics investigation department raided the resort following a tip-off from a member of the public.
Speaking from her bungalow in Wales, Shivaun Orton's mother, Shirley - who has two other daughters and a son - said: "I do not know what to do. The Foreign Office have not yet informed me."
"I have had no contact with my daughter for over five years. She had been taking drugs and was psychotic. We did not even have a phone number for her," she said.
Chief superintendent Roslan Abdul Wahid, head of the Terengganu narcotics investigation department, said it was the biggest drugs bust in the area for three years.
"Initial investigations show the couple have been hard-core addicts for almost 15 years. We believe they started distributing drugs during the past ten years." he said.
"The cannabis plants alone carry a sentence of life imprisonment. If the heroin, after analysis, tests positive, then anything over 15 grams carries the death penalty."
Source: Agencies/Daily Mail
Image Source: Daily Mail
Published Dec 17 2010
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