Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) conducted 11-day long operation in Singapore and arrested 180 suspected drug offenders. During the investigation, the officers found around 457g of heroin and other drugs.
The operation, supported by the Singapore Police Force, was conducted between April 16 and April 27. To locate the drug offenders, CNB covered areas such as Woodlands, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Choa Chu Kang, Boon Lay, Geylang, Jurong, Clementi, Seletar and Tampines.
CNB said on Friday that apart from the seized heroin, investigators found 22g of ketamine, 12g of cannabis, 66g of Ice, 35 Ermin-5 tablets, 78 pieces of Lysergamide or LSD and 22 Ecstasy tablets.
The suspects included a man, 28, and two women, aged between 33 and 37. Officers arrested these women from Simei Street 1 and all three are Singapore residents.
The CNB officers recovered an assortment of drugs and drug paraphernalia from the 33-year-old female suspect. These drugs consisted of nine 'Ecstasy' tablets, 20 Erimin-5 tablets, about 16g of ketamine, 15g of 'Ice', 5g of cannabis, a small amount of heroin. They found various drug-smoking apparatus, numerous empty plastic packets and two digital weighing scales. Officers also recovered about 6g of ketamine, 1g of 'Ice' and various drug-smoking apparatus from the other woman, 37.
During the operation in the same locality, they found 13 Ecstasy tablets and a small amount of Ice from the 28-year-old male suspect. The man was arrested along with another Singaporean woman, 28, who was suspected to be a drug abuser.
The further investigation on the drug activities of all alleged drug offenders is going on.
In the south-east Asian country, Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) is one of the strictest laws for drug offenders. Even though punishment differs in severity depending on the class of seized substance, most of the trafficking offences carry a minimum of 5 years jail with 5 strokes of the cane and a maximum of 30 years and 15 strokes of the cane. In addition,
- Under section 5-7 of the Act, it is an offence to traffic, manufacture, import or export, possess or consume controlled drugs in Singapore.
- Section 8 governs the consumption of drugs outside Singapore by a Singapore citizen or permanent resident – if one has consumed drugs outside of Singapore and is found as a result of a urine test to have consumed drugs, he will have committed an offence under this section and will be taken to have consumed the drugs within Singapore.
- Under Section 9, possessing any pipes or utensils intended for smoking or for the administration of drugs. is an offence.
- Section 10 prohibits the cultivation of any plant from the genus of cannabis, or any plant from which cocaine can be extracted.
- Sections 17-22 of the Act also states that anyone found in possession of the drugs will be presumed to be holding them for the purpose of trafficking until proven otherwise. In such cases, police don't require a search warrant to enter any premises to search for drugs.
