Singaporean convicted and sentenced for drug trafficking and money laundering; ill-gotten proceeds forfeited

       A 58-year-old Singaporean man was convicted and sentenced by the State Court to 31 years’ imprisonment for drug trafficking and drug money laundering offences.¹ The benefits derived from his drug trafficking activities amounting to $18,050 in cash were forfeited to the State. 

2.     The man, who was 56 years old at the material time, was arrested by officers of the Central Narcotics Bureau for a drug trafficking offence on 27 January 2023. During the arrest, about 713g of heroin and four ‘Ecstasy’ tablets were seized from the man. 

3.     On 3 June 2025, the man was sentenced to an imprisonment term of 31 years, including 10 weeks’ imprisonment for one money laundering charge under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 (CDSA), for possessing $18,050 worth of drug proceeds.

4.    Under Section 53 of the CDSA, it is an offence for any person to facilitate, conceal, disguise, convert, transfer, remove from jurisdiction, acquire, possess, or use benefits of drug dealing. The maximum penalties are a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000 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).²

CENTRAL NARCOTICS BUREAU
11 June 2025

[1] The man faced a total of one count of drug trafficking, one count of drug possession, two counts of drug consumption, and one count of possession of drug utensils under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, as well as one count of drug money laundering under the CDSA. Of these, one count of drug trafficking, two counts of drug consumption and one count of drug money laundering were proceeded on. The two remaining charges were taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

[2] 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.