Malaysian man caught with 1.9kg of heroin, 1.6kg of cannabis at Tuas Checkpoint

A Malaysian man was nabbed at Tuas Checkpoint for attempting to smuggle drugs totalling over 3.8kg into Singapore.

On the morning of Sept 20, the 37-year-old was pulled aside for further checks by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers, who then found two black bundles suspected to contain controlled drugs hidden in the boot of his car, said ICA and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in a joint release today (Sept 23).

CNB officers were immediately alerted and further checks by them uncovered six more black bundles hidden in various compartments of the vehicle.

The authorities seized about 1.908kg of heroin, 1.655kg of cannabis and 268g of Ice — or methamphetamine — worth over $272,000.

Those who import into or export from Singapore over 15g of pure heroin, or more than 250g of methamphetamine, or over 500g of cannabis may face the death penalty under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Investigations are ongoing.

Police investigating clemency appeal

The police also told AsiaOne today they are investigating an incident where the group Student Actions for Transformative Justice delivered letters to the Istana on Sept 13, requesting clemency for multiple inmates on death row.

One of the inmates in question, 39-year-old Datchinamurthy Kataiah, was arrested in 2011 at Woodlands Checkpoint after he was found to have 45g of heroin in his possession.

ICA stated that it will continue to work with CNB and conduct security checks at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle drugs, undesirable persons, weapons, explosives and other contrabands across Singapore's borders.

[[nid:722993]]

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com