Three Taiwanese nationals were yesterday charged with drug trafficking in Malaysia where the offence carries a mandatory death penalty.

Liang Yuan-Chen, 29, Pao Chein-Fang, 26 and Lee Chung-Chi, 27, were allegedly caught with more than 60,000 pills of Erimin 5, a depressant, at a Kuala Lumpur hotel on October 10, said the state Bernama news agency.

On Thursday two Taiwanese women were charged in a separate case with trafficking the party drug ketamine.

Lee Pei-Yun, 25, and Wang Ting-Chun, 23, were each allegedly caught with three packets containing ketamine at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on September 30.

Malaysia has executed 229 people for the offence in the past 30 years.