SINGAPORE authorities are on the hunt for a South Australian man who jumped bail on drug trafficking charges, a local newspaper reported today.

Michael Karras, 38, failed to show up in court for a pre-trial conference on May 9, The Straits Times said.

His whereabouts is unknown.

He was arrested on January 9 after drug officers allegedly found 189.06g of cannabis and 248.38g of a cannabis mixture in a flat he shared with a Singaporean man.

Utensils used for taking drugs and a ketamine-stained note were also seized.

Both Mr Karras and Ngo Pee Lin, 28, face up to 20 years in jail and between five and 15 strokes of the cane if convicted under Singapore's tough drug laws, Deutsche Presse Agentur reported.

SS Khillon, Mr Karras's lawyer, said the last time he saw his client was about a week before the pre-trial conference.

Mr Karras's mother could lose the $S100,000 ($76,055) she put up as bail.

Australian man Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged in December 2005 after he was found guilty of heroin trafficking.

A clemency plea by Prime Minister John Howard was rejected by Singapore's leaders.

http://www.news.com.au/

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