ICA foils attempt to smuggle nearly 400kg of cannabis to another country via Singapore

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) foiled an attempt to smuggle cannabis through Singapore to another country.

The authority said on Friday (Oct 2) that its officers identified a container at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station and referred it for enhanced checks. 

Image analysts determined there were anomalies when they scanned the container's interior, and officers conducted a physical inspection of it.

Suspected cannabis blocks were found within boxes containing gloves in the container, ICA said.

Officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) were alerted and further checks took place, uncovering 1,290 blocks of cannabis, weighing about 391kg in total.

The drugs were allegedly transiting through Singapore bound for another country, preliminary investigations found.

@asiaone Concealed inside ordinary boxes of gloves, authorities uncovered over 391kg of cannabis. They were found within an inbound cargo container transiting through Pasir Panjang Scanning Station on Sept 24. #sgnews #Singapore #Border #Smuggle #Crime ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

Investigations are ongoing.

ICA stressed that under the Misuse of Drugs Act, those who import into or export from Singapore more than 500g of cannabis may face the mandatory death penalty.

ICA senior assistant commissioner Alan Koo said: "ICA will continue to leverage technology and data analytics to strengthen border security, prevent the smuggling of drugs, contraband, and undesirable persons from entering Singapore."

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khooyihang@asiaone.com