3 Men Arrested for Largest Drug Haul in 14 Yrs; S$1.7M Worth of Drugs Were Seized

Singapore has the toughest anti-drug laws in the entire world.

In fact, when the UN decided to remove cannabis from the most tightly controlled narcotics category, Singapore issue a strongly-worded statement to the move.

Yes, Singapore, the country most well-known for its tendency to play nice.

And yet, it’s not stopping drug dealers and smugglers from trying their luck and moving drugs into the country.

The Largest Drug Haul in 14 Yrs; S$1.7M Worth of Drugs Were Seized

On 18 Mar 2021, it was reported that Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) hit the jackpot and landed the largest drug haul in 14 years.

In a two-day operation that started on 16 Mar 2021, CNB officers seized drugs estimated to be worthed nearly S$1.7 million from multiple locations.

Drugs seized include:

  • 8.3kg of heroin
  • About 6.4kg of crystalline methamphetamine
  • 1,091 Ecstasy tablets
  • 1,000 Erimin-5 tablets

While this won’t mean much to you, let’s convert that into real figures.

The drugs seized can feed over 10,000 drug abusers for an entire week:

  • 3,950 heroin abusers
  • 3,700 Ice abusers
  • 2,930 cannabis abusers

Arrest

In the operation, officers arrested 3 Singaporean men aged between 27 and 33 years old for suspected drug offences.

Two of them, aged 27 and 33, were arrested after officers intercepted their car near Kempas Road on Tuesday evening.

At the vehicle, officers found 20 packets of narcotics, which contained about 419g of Ice and 87 Ecstasy tablets.

A search at the 33-year-old’s home also revealed more narcotics:

  • 8.3kg of heroin
  • 5kg of Ice
  • About 20.5kg of cannabis
  • 1,000 Ecstasy tablets
  • 100 Erimin-5 tablets

He had stored most of the drugs in the storeroom of his flat.

Meanwhile, in the evening of the same day, the 27-year-old was brought to his motorcycle where they found 1kg of Ice, four Ecstasy tablets and 900 Erimin-5 tablets.

The remaining man, 30, was arrested the next day in the same area.

Investigations are ongoing, CNB added.

The Previous Record Holder

Before this incident, the largest haul of drugs was seized back in 2007.

About 20.6kg of cannabis were seized from a Zambian woman and a Ghanaian man.

The woman had flown into Singapore with 40kg of cannabis, disguised as the bottom of her luggage.

The man, who was an illegal immigrant, was caught after leaving the hotel room which the woman had checked into with the slabs of drugs.

Another 6.6kg of cannabis was found at his rented flat in Choa Chu Kang.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, offenders caught smuggling more than 500g of cannabis into Singapore illegally can be given the death penalty.

Feature Image: Screengrab from YouTube video