Veteran CNB Officer Switched Urine Sample with His Own to Avoid Paperwork; Jailed 18 Months

Laziness is something we’re all well-acquainted with.

We’re all born with that drive to achieve great things, but our inner sloth dictates that we watch several cat videos on YouTube and take at least two naps before achieving those things.

How far would you go to avoid doing work, though?

Reader: I once ate a 10-day-old bowl of Laksa so I could get food poisoning and avoid going to work.

Ok, that seems a little excessive. But nothing can beat this guy, though.

Veteran CNB Officer Jailed 18 Months For Switching Urine Sample

A veteran Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officer has been sentenced to 18 months’ jail for switching a man’s urine sample with his own.

You probably think it was because he was bribed, right?

Mohamed Hafiz Lan, 41, switched urine samples because he wanted to avoid some paperwork. 

On Aug 15, 2018, Hafiz was deployed to Woodlands Checkpoint, along with two other officers who were also charged – Staff Sergeant Abdul Rahman Kadir and Sergeant Muhammad Zuhairi Zainuri.

Their job was to administer urine tests to those suspected of consuming drugs, according to CNA.

At 9pm that day, ICA officers stopped a 32-year-old Singaporean man and a 26-year-old Thai woman as they were entering Singapore.

A swab test indicated that the two of them may have consumed drugs earlier that day.

So, they were referred to the CNB.

This is where things get weird.

Switched Suspect’s Urine Sample With His Own

We now know that the man, Maung Moe Min Oo, had indeed taken methamphetamine earlier that day.

So he declined to give a urine sample and asked to speak to Staff Sergeant Rahman in private.

Wait, you can decline to give a urine sample? Can I also decline to pay my parking fines?

Rahman agreed to his request, and brought Maung into a room. Sergeant Zuhari was also there.

Maung said he might fail his urine test because he’d been in a room with someone who had smoked methamphetamine and may have inhaled some of the fumes.

So, he asked for a little help to pass his urine test.

Zuhari then left the room to speak to Hafiz and told him that Maung didn’t seem cooperative.

At this point, Zuhari and his fellow officers had two options:

1. Arrest Maung

2. Literally anything but switch Maung’s urine sample

So, naturally, they chose to switch Maung’s urine sample.

Why? Because getting Maung to do his thing into a tiny cup might take some time. Plus, there was paperwork to be done.

The Plan

The officers decided that Hafiz would be the one to give his urine sample, so he went to the bathroom first, urinated inside a bottle, diluted it with water,  and left it behind a dustbin inside a cubicle.

This is just like Money Heist, only with more toilets and urine.

Then, the other two officers escorted Maung to the toilet to provide a urine sample. He was told to:

• retrieve Hafiz’s urine-filled bottle
• provide his own urine sample
• pour his own urine sample into the toilet sink
• bring Hafiz’s sample out

The urine sample was tested and came back negative. Maung left Singapore with his female companion, whose sample was also negative, and everything seemed to be fine and dandy.

Until the next day. 

Detained Again

Maung must be a pretty unlucky individual, because he was detained for suspected drug consumption by a different CNB team the next day, when he tried to enter Singapore again.

So he did what criminals in the movies are told not to do: he snitched.

The 32-year-old told the team that Rahman had helped him pass his urine test the night before.

CCTV footage showed that his claim may have had some substance.

Urine trouble now, guys.

With CNB For 21 Years

Hafiz, a father-of-three, pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing the course of justice on Monday (3 Aug).

The cases of the other two officers are still pending.

All three officers have been “interdicted from service” since July 2019, reported CNA.

Hafiz, who had been with CNB for around 21 years, said he had committed a “serious and grievous mistake” and that it was a “fall from grace” for him.

Well, all those years of service to CNB have now gone down the toilet.

Reader: How long were you waiting to use that one?

Since I started writing this article, to be honest.