Singaporean granted discharge not amounting to acquittal for drug charge issued detention order

A Singaporean man whose drug trafficking charge was temporarily dropped has been issued a detention order, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Friday (Sept 26).

Benny Kee Soon Chuan, 32, is suspected of supplying and distributing drugs in Singapore. In September 2024, he was repatriated from Thailand and charged with engaging in a conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine.

However, on Sept 8, 2025, the prosecution applied for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, which was granted, reported CNA.

Kee's lawyer Ramesh Tiwary told CNA that his client "is innocent" and "very grateful to be reunited with his family" once released from remand.

On Friday, MHA said Kee was arrested under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLTPA) the same day he got a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

He was subsequently issued a detention order on Sept 22.

It explained that drug offences are typically prosecuted under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and the CLTPA is invoked "only as a last resort" when prosecution is not possible.

The CLPTA was enacted in 1955 and allows the Home Affairs Minister to place crime-associated persons under police supervision for public safety, peace and good order.

An individual issued a detention order may be detained for up to 12 months.

The Act has been used on headmen and senior members of secret societies as well as leaders and financiers of organised crime syndicates.

In Kee's case, witnesses were unwilling to testify in court for fear of reprisal against them or their family members, according to the ministry.

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He is suspected of supplying drugs to two Singaporeans in different cases. They were arrested by the Central Narcotics Bureau in 2020 and 2022.

The accused persons were separately convicted of trafficking "substantial amounts" of meth into Singapore, and each handed jail time and caning.

MHA said investigations revealed that Kee was part of a drug trafficking syndicate in Thailand since at least late-2020, and was "instrumental" in supplying and distributing drugs.

He would receive orders via messaging platform Telegram and arrange for the drugs to be exported to Singapore, where his associates would distribute to abusers.

The ministry stressed that it takes a zero-tolerance approach to drug trafficking in Singapore.

"We will not hesitate to take tough action to suppress such activities, and traffickers should not believe that they can get away just by being out of Singapore, or by intimidating witnesses," it said in its statement.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com