Heroin worth close to S$163,000 seized at Tuas Checkpoint, Three suspected drug offenders arrested

            Three male Malaysian suspected drug offenders were arrested following the discovery of more than 2kg of heroin at Tuas Checkpoint. The drugs seized were worth close to S$163,000.

2.         On the evening of 27 August 2020, officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) at Tuas Checkpoint conducted a joint operation at the Arrival Cargo zone. At about 5.40pm, an arriving Malaysia-registered lorry driven by a 35-year-old Malaysian male was subjected to further checks. The driver was accompanied by two male Malaysian passengers (aged 23 and 37).

3.         One of the officers spotted a black backpack left on the passenger floorboard of the lorry, despite prior instructions to the three Malaysian males to remove all their belongings for checks. A search of the bag uncovered five packets of granular substances, believed to be heroin, weighing about 2,321g in total.

4.         The three Malaysian males were arrested and referred to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for further investigations.

5.         Investigations into the drug activities of all suspects are ongoing. The total amount of 2,321g of heroin is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 1,105 abusers for a week.

6.         Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore’s security. The ICA, SPF and CNB will continue to conduct security checks at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands across our borders.

Photo 1 - (CNB): Heroin seized from a Malaysian-registered lorry at Tuas Checkpoint on 27 August 2020.

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
CENTRAL NARCOTICS BUREAU

29 AUGUST 2020