SINGAPORE: The lorries claimed to be carrying furniture, personal effects and “taugeh” (beansprouts) for the market. But Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) were not fooled.
The officers foiled two separate attempts to smuggle out about 15kg of controlled drugs concealed in the two lorries registered in Malaysia at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
Two Malaysian men, aged 38 and 44, were arrested and referred to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for investigation, said the authorities in a joint statement here today.
In the first attempt on Dec 18, the statement said a Malaysian-registered lorry transporting a consignment of beansprouts was referred by ICA officers for further checks where seven bundles of controlled drugs, containing about 4,622gm of heroin and 521gm of “ice”, were found.
In the second case detected on Dec 21, a Malaysian-registered lorry, transporting furniture and spare vehicle parts, was similarly directed for further checks.
The officers’ suspicions were aroused when they noticed anomalies in the scanned x-ray images of the consignment declared as “personal effect” items.
Packages containing a total of 4,368gm of “ice”, 5,110gm of cannabis, 4,900 “ecstasy” tablets and 4,750 erimin-5 tablets, concealed within the furniture were found.
This prompted subsequent anti-drug enforcement operations by the CNB at multiple locations in Singapore, said the statement.
About 4,622gm of heroin, 5,393gm of “ice”, 5,482g of cannabis, 247gm of ketamine, 5,111 “ecstasy” tablets and 5,383 erimin-5 tablets were recovered.
Seven suspected drug offenders, comprising six males and one female aged between 20 and 55, were arrested.
The drugs seized are estimated to be worth close to S$2.3 million (RM7 million).