SINGAPORE, Nov 13 — Officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) seized close to S$2 million worth of drugs — including 14kg of heroin, the largest haul since 2001 — during a raid earlier this week.
Five suspected drug offenders were arrested. In the drug bust that took place in different regions of Singapore on Wednesday, officers seized:
- 14.2kg of heroin
- 2.9kg of “ice,” or methamphetamine
- 7.6kg of cannabis
- 323g of ecstasy fragments
- 28 ecstasy tablets
- 1,008 Erimin-5 tablets
- S$12,629 (RM38,622) cash
The five people arrested are three men and two women, aged between 29 and 55, CNB announced in a statement on Friday.
In 2001, CNB seized a record 14.9kg of heroin in a single operation. Trafficking more than 15g of heroin carries the death penalty in Singapore.
How the drug bust happened
CNB officers intercepted a vehicle near Siglap Road on Wednesday afternoon and arrested three Singaporeans:
- A 55-year-old male driver
- A 50-year-old man
- A 52-year-old female passenger
They searched the vehicle and found three bundles containing about 1.5kg of heroin. Officers also seized 3g of heroin and 2g of ice from the 50-year-old man, and 7g of ice and 20 ecstasy tablets from the 52-year-old woman.
The woman was then brought to her hideout in the Siglap Road area, from which more drugs were recovered. There, officers found:
- 11g of heroin
- 2g of ice
- One ecstasy tablet
- One Erimin-5 tablet
Drug operation at Bedok Reservoir
A separate band of CNB officers keeping watch on a residential block along Bedok Reservoir Road arrested a 35-year-old Singaporean man on the same day. Six bundles of drugs were recovered from him. The items seized were:
- 2.8kg of heroin
- One packet of ice weighing 127g
- Five packets of ecstasy fragments weighing 323g
- S$629 cash
Raiding the 35-year-old man’s hideout in the same block, officers discovered a 29-year-old female permanent resident, who was also arrested. In the housing unit, CNB officers found:
- 29 packs containing 9kg of heroin
- 15 packs of ice weighing 2kg
- Four packs of cannabis weighing 2.5kg
- 1,007 Erimin-5 tablets
- Seven ecstasy tablets
- S$12,000 cash
There was more to come. The 35-year-old man was escorted to his vehicle, where more drugs were found.
In the vehicle were two bundles containing 940g of heroin, three bundles holding 760g of ice, and five bundles composed of 5.1kg of cannabis.
CNB is investigating the drug activities of all five suspects.The drug enforcement agency said that the items confiscated in the operation were enough to feed 6,740 heroin abusers, 1,630 methamphetamine users and 1,080 cannabis abusers for a week.
Superintendent Aaron Tang, director of CNB’s intelligence division, said: “Even with movement restrictions due to the Covid-19 situation, drug traffickers are still taking huge gambles and exploiting the situation, so they can profit off addiction and misery.” — TODAY
