Forfeiture of ill-gotten proceeds from illegal drug activities

         On 20 August 2025, a 55-year-old Singaporean man was convicted and sentenced by the State Court to a total sentence of 7 years', 12 months' and 159 days' imprisonment for drug possession and drug money laundering offences, among other charges. ¹Following his conviction, CNB sought an order to forfeit the benefits derived from his illegal drug activities, with a total value of $14,123.45. The order was granted by the State Court on 3 October 2025. 

2.       The man was arrested by CNB officers on 11 January 2024 and a total of about 346g of heroin, 21g of ’Ice’, 13g of cannabis, 26 Erimin-5 tablets and monies totalling $14,123.45 were seized from the man. ²CNB’s investigations revealed that the total assets seized were disproportionate to the man’s known income. 

3.       On 20 August 2025, the man was convicted for offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA), the Misuse of Drugs Regulations (MDR), the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA) and the Prisons Act. The imposed sentence included 1 month’s imprisonment for one money laundering charge under the CDSA. Six additional drug-related charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Photo 1 (CNB): Cash, among the assets seized from the 55-year-old man, convicted for offences including drug possession and drug money laundering.

4.       Under Section 55 of the CDSA, it is an offence for any person to possess or use property reasonably suspected to be benefits of drug dealing and the person fails to account satisfactorily how the person came by the property. The maximum penalties for both offences are a jail term of up to 3 years, a fine of up to $150,000, or both.

5.       The Government will continue to review and enhance our laws to ensure that they remain effective in addressing the evolving crime landscape and are aligned with the international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). ³

CENTRAL NARCOTICS BUREAU
10 NOVEMBER 2025

¹ The man faced a total of 4 counts of drug possession offence, 1 count of failure to provide urine specimen, 1 count of possession of drug utensils under the MDA, 3 counts of failing to report for urine test under MDR, 1 count of drug money laundering offence under the CDSA and 1 count of breach of mandatory aftercare conditions under the Prisons Act. Of which, 1 count of drug possession, 1 count of failure to provide urine specimen, 1 count of failing to report for urine test, 1 count of breach of mandatory aftercare conditions and 1 count of drug money laundering charges were proceeded. The 6 remaining charges were taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

² The weights of the drugs are as seized from the CNB operation.

³ The FATF is an intergovernmental body that develops international standards to fight money laundering, terrorism financing (TF) and proliferation financing (PF). Singapore is a member of the FATF.