SINGAPORE — Two brothers aged 17 and 25 were arrested for suspected drug activities on Tuesday (Jan 10), with S$124,000 worth of various drugs seized during the operation, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said.

A total of about 1,073g of cannabis, 85g of "Ice", 43g of ketamine, 310g of Ecstasy tablets, 538 Erimin-5 tablets and 198 LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) stamps were seized.

In a statement on Thursday, the CNB said the younger brother was arrested in the vicinity of Jurong West Street 93 on Tuesday evening. 

Officers recovered about 446g of cannabis, 18g of "Ice", 5g of ketamine, 5g of Ecstasy tablets, 90 Erimin-5 tablets and various drug paraphernalia from him.

The student was then escorted to his residence in the same vicinity, where his elder brother was also arrested. 

About 627g of cannabis, 67g of "Ice", 38g of ketamine, 305g of Ecstasy tablets, 448 Erimin-5 tablets and 198 LSD  stamps were seized from the residential unit.

Both are Singaporeans. 

Investigations into the drug activities are ongoing. Preliminary findings revealed that the controlled drugs seized may be linked to drug transactions conducted on Telegram, CNB said. 

CNB said that is aware that some drug offenders and syndicates have been leveraging encrypted messaging applications such as Telegram to conduct their drug activities. 

CNB added that it is monitoring such developments closely and that it has been taking regular enforcement actions against drug offenders who use the Telegram platform for their activities. 

"These drug offenders may think that such applications can offer them a certain level of anonymity to carry out their illegal activities, and evade CNB’s surveillance," the authority said.

"Regardless of the platform or tactics used in an attempt to evade detection, there is no safe haven for drug offenders in Singapore."

Members of the public who would like to report suspicious drug-related activities are advised to contact CNB, or call the CNB hotline at 1800-325-6666.