Drugs worth more than S$74,000 seized at Tuas Checkpoint

On 31 March 2018 at about 10.30pm, an Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer at the Tuas checkpoint noticed that a male Singaporean appeared to be taking a long time for arrival immigration clearance at the automated clearance lane for motorcycles. Checkpoint officers went forward to render assistance and observed that the male Singaporean had blood shot eyes and was slurry in his speech. Suspecting that the lone 26-year-old motorcyclist could be riding under the influence of drugs, they directed him for further checks.

2. During the course of checks, swabs were conducted on the man and his belongings, which yielded positive hits of methamphetamine. Plastic straws were also found in the man’s bag. ICA officers conducted a search of his motorcycle and found two bundles concealed under the motorcycle seat. Officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) were alerted and the bundles were later found to contain a total of about 825g of ‘Ice’. The haul of drugs was estimated to be worth more than S$74,000.

Photo-1: ‘Ice’ seized at Tuas Checkpoint on 31 March 2018.

3. Follow-up investigations by CNB led to the arrest of a 49-year-old Singaporean man on 1 April 2018. The 49-year-old was believed to be the intended recipient of the ‘Ice’ concealed under the motorcycle seat. About 2g of ‘Ice’ was also recovered from within a sling bag carried by the man.

4. Investigations are ongoing. The Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death penalty if the amount of methamphetamine trafficked exceeds 250g. 825g of methamphetamine is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 471 abusers for a week[*].

5. Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security, and security checks are critical to our nation’s security. The Home Team agencies will continue to conduct checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands.

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY

CENTRAL NARCOTICS BUREAU

3 APRIL 2018

[*] This is estimated using a typical purity level of about 77%, based on drug seizures in recent years.