KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 23 (UPI) -- Three Mexican brothers, a Malaysian citizen and a Singapore national, are facing the death penalty after losing their final appeal for drug production and trafficking in Malaysia.
The Mexican brothers Luis Alfonso, Simón and José Regino González Villarreal were arrested in a police raid on March 2008 along with the Malaysian citizen and a Singapore national in the city of Johor Bahru.
Nearly 70 pounds of methamphetamine worth about $15 million was seized by police.
The Supreme Federal Court of Malaysia rejected appeals on Thursday. The brothers were sentenced to death by hanging in May 2012.
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"The family Gonzalez-Villarreal has been permanently informed about the development of the case as well as physical and mental situation of detainees," Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. "Likewise, support to the families who have traveled to Malaysia to attend hearings has been given."
The Secretariat of Foreign Affairs said it lobbied Malaysian authorities at different levels, both in Mexico and the Malaysia, expressing Mexico's position against the death penalty.
The last means to escape the death penalty for the convicted would be a royal pardon from Malaysia's monarchy.
Malaysia recently passed a controversial anti-terrorism bill that reintroduces detention without trial after it was abolished for three years.
The new law bypasses Malaysia's judiciary, allowing detention of people at the discretion of police for up to 59 days.
Suspects can then be held for renewable periods of two years for an unlimited amount of time, depending on decisions by a Prevention of Terrorism Board, whose members are appointed by Malaysia's sultan.
