Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at Woodlands Checkpoint arrested a 27-year-old Singaporean man on Tuesday, November 20 for allegedly smuggling 1kg of cannabis, which was packed inside a cereal box.
ICA stated in a Facebook post that they stopped Singapore registered car, which was driven by the male and after further checks, the officers found that suspicious package and officials from Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) found 1kg of cannabis.
The man was arrested for allegedly smuggling illegal drugs and the investigation is ongoing.
In the same Facebook post, ICA added that "Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security. The Home Team agencies will continue to conduct checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands."
Even though many countries have recently legalised the usage of such drugs for medical purpose, earlier CNB clarified that the cannabis is still listed as a Class A controlled drug in the First Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).
The bureau stated in a news release that if any Singaporean found to have abused controlled drugs overseas will be treated as if he or she had violated the drug law of the country. They also added that the officials at checkpoints are allowed to conduct an enforcement check if they found anything suspicious and they can also take immediate action against those offenders, who have consumed drugs overseas.
