More than 8kg of illicit drugs seized and a 42-year-old Singaporean man arrested. That’s an enormous amount of drugs seized, estimated to be worth close to $343,000.
They include 659g of ‘Ice’, 5,093g of cannabis, 442g of ketamine, 252g of ‘Ecstasy’ tablets, 145 Erimin-5 tablets, 17 bottles of liquid believed to contain 1,195g GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) and 535g of tampered sachets of beverage mix believed to contain controlled drugs.
The amount of ‘Ice’ seized can feed the addiction of about 380 abusers for a week, while the 5.1kg of cannabis is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 720 abusers for a week.
The 42-year-old man was arrested in the vicinity of Geylang Road on 6 September. He put up a violent struggle to resist arrest and necessary force was used to subdue him.
A total of about 134g of ‘Ice’, 1,671g of cannabis, 77g of ketamine, 54g of ‘Ecstasy’ tablets and 50 Erimin-5 tablets were recovered from the 42-year-old man.
More illicit drugs were recovered from his hideout in a residential unit in the vicinity.
About 525g of ‘Ice’, 3,422g of cannabis, 365g of ketamine, 198g of ‘Ecstasy’ tablets, 95 Erimin-5 tablets, 17 bottles of liquid believed to contain 1,195g of GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) and 136g of tampered sachets of beverage mix believed to contain controlled drugs were seized from the residential unit.
In the early morning of 7 September, the 42-year-old man was also escorted to a suspected drug store in an industrial building in the vicinity of Eunos Ave 3. Another 399g of tampered sachets of beverage mix believed to contain controlled drugs were seized from one of the storage units in the building.
Under Section 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, it is an offence for a person, on his or her own behalf, or on behalf of any other person, whether or not that other person is in Singapore, to traffic in a controlled drug, offer to traffic in a controlled drug; or to do or offer to do any act preparatory to or for the purpose of trafficking in a controlled drug. If a person is found guilty of trafficking more than 250g of methamphetamine or 500g of cannabis, he or she may face the mandatory death penalty.
Even with our stiff penalty on drug trafficking, there are still people willing to take the risk for huge monetary gains. Imagine what it would be like if drug laws were relaxed?
With the sale of cannabis legalised in Thailand, this is a added challenge to controlling illicit drugs in Singapore.
Drugs have no place in our society. It weakens people’s resilience, and therefore, society’s resilience.