Drugs hidden in papaya: 5 Singaporeans, 3 Malaysians arrested in islandwide CNB raids

SINGAPORE — Eight suspected drug traffickers were arrested by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in a series of raids across Singapore on Thursday (Sept 17).

In a press statement on Friday, CNB said that the eight men aged between 18 and 50 were nabbed at locations such as River Valley Road, Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, Clementi and Bukit Purmei.

Five of the men are Singaporeans and the others are Malaysians. The estimated value of the drugs seized in the operations is about S$124,000.

During the raids, officers found a total of 375g of “Ice”, also known as methamphetamine, about 37g of heroin, about 135g of ketamine and one Erimin-5 tablet.

The total amount of "Ice" seized in the operations is enough to feed the addiction of about 215 abusers for a week, CNB said.

OPERATIONS ACROSS SINGAPORE

CNB officers first intercepted a vehicle near River Valley Road on Thursday evening and arrested two Singaporean men aged 29 and 48.

A search of the vehicle found a papaya with drugs hidden in it. There were three bundles containing about 333g of "Ice" and two bundles containing about 121g of ketamine.

“About 42g of Ice, about 37g of heroin, about 14g of ketamine and one Erimin-5 tablet were also recovered from the vehicle,” CNB said.

In a follow-up operation, CNB officers then arrested the three Malaysians — aged 18, 22 and 27 — in the vicinity of the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre where the fruit basket containing the papaya was believed to have been loaded.

In the late evening that day, CNB officers caught two Singaporeans — aged 34 and 50 — near Clementi Avenue 4.

A separate group of officers then arrested a 44-year-old Singaporean man in the vicinity of Bukit Purmei Avenue.

“The three Singaporeans are believed to be linked to the drugs seized from the two Singaporeans in the vicinity of River Valley Road earlier,” CNB said.

Investigations into the drug activities are ongoing.

CNB warned that Singapore has strict laws for drug trafficking and the agency conducts rigorous enforcement to deter and interdict the flow of drugs into the country.

Mr Aaron Tang, director of intelligence at CNB, said that drug syndicates continue to take their chances to smuggle and distribute drugs to the market here “to reap profits out of the misery of people trapped in the vicious circle of drug abuse”.

“Despite them coming up with unorthodox methods in their attempt to evade detection, we will persevere with our vigorous enforcement efforts to ensure that justice is meted out and our drug situation remains under control,” he added.