Convicted drug trafficker Umi Azlim calls home from Guangzhou prison after a year

PASIR PUTIH: Convicted drug trafficker Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim who is now serving her time at Guangzhou prison in China is fine and cannot wait to return to Malaysia.

He father Mohamad Lazim Jusoh said Umi called home several days after Hari Raya Aidiadha, telling the family she was in good health and everything was well.

“We have been worried about her because we had not heard from her since last year. During the festive gathering, we were talking about her and that how we missed her very much. Thank God, she called several days later,” said the 62-year-old mechanic at his home in Taman Desa Anda near here.

During the 30 minutes conversation, Mohamad Lazim said Umi also talked about her life there and said she might be released in 2025 or earlier for good behaviour.

“I told her to take care of her health, and look forward to be reunited with her," he said.

In 2007, Umi Azlim, the eldest of six siblings, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Guangzhou prison for smuggling heroin into the country.

She had been hired by a Kuala Lumpur-based company to market foot massage equipment in China, but a drug syndicate here had duped her into trafficking heroin instead.

In China, all death sentences are reviewed by the Supreme People’s Court. Sentences with a two-year reprieve may be commuted to life imprisonment upon good behaviour.