'Crash' turns out to be drug bust

It may have looked like a traffic incident, but a dramatic video clip showing three cars coming together in a sandwich to a standstill at Bukit Batok West Avenue 2 was no accident.

Instead, it was a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) operation that led to the arrest of a 26-year-old suspected drug trafficker. A CNB spokesman said that the incident took place on July 2 at about 1pm.

According to her, CNB officers had earlier moved in to arrest the suspect, but he attempted to evade arrest by crashing his car through a public carpark's gantry.

"CNB officers stopped his car successfully a short distance later along Bukit Batok West Avenue 2. About 200g of Ice was seized from the male Singaporean's car," the spokesman said.

The video clip of the incident, which was first uploaded on YouTube about a week ago by a netizen, has gone viral, with more than 132,000 views as of 11.30pm yesterday.

The unfolding drama appeared to have been shot from a nearby bus stop.

At the start of the clip, the sound of a revved-up car engine, along with shouts of vulgarities in Hokkien, can be heard.

It appeared as if the CNB officers wanted the occupant of the car, which was sandwiched by two other cars, to come out.

An officer was seen breaking the rear right passenger window.

Almost immediately, more plainclothes CNB officers - some wearing gloves - appeared.

They had arrived in two cars and a motorcycle which stopped behind the suspect's car.

One car, which supposedly belonged to the CNB officers, also stopped at the front of the suspect's car, boxing it in.

Two officers were seen climbing on the suspect's car. One charged up the bonnet and the other jumped on the boot.

NO TASER USED

While some netizens have commented that a taser gun might have been used on the suspect judging by what they heard from the clip, CNB has clarified that the device was not used during the operation.

Meanwhile, as the vehicles completely blocked the two lanes of the road, traffic at the rear of the incident site began to pile up.

Naturally, the dramatic clip has led to comments from netizens. A few criticised the officers, saying they looked like hooligans.

Most, however, defended the officers' work, saying they were working undercover and needed to dress suitably.

One netizen said: "To those who say that they (the CNB officers) act or dress like hooligan(sic), how about you trying to apprehend someone that might act violently or use violence to try and escape...?"

Meanwhile, more drugs were recovered at the suspect's home.

At his hideout in a Bukit Batok condominium, CNB officers recovered another 488 Ecstasy tablets, about 160g of ketamine, 56 Erimin 5 tablets, small amount of Ice and various drug paraphernalia.

The suspect has been charged.

zaihan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on July 14, 2014.
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