Man jailed and fined for making explosive, smoking cannabis

SINGAPORE — A homemade explosive, live ammunition, a packet of cannabis, and an airsoft pistol were among the items that Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers found in an Yishun flat during a raid in 2015.

The items had belonged to Kang Chun How, who was arrested by the authorities. On Thursday (Sept 20), the 23-year-old was sentenced to 11 months behind bars and fined S$9,000, after pleading guilty in January to five charges of unlicensed possession of explosives and an airsoft pistol, unlawful possession of ammunition, as well as drug consumption and possession.

Kang, who completed his National Service in April, is currently a part-time odd jobs worker. He is a Ngee Ann Polytechnic alumnus with a diploma in biomedical engineering.

THE ARREST

In January, the court heard that Kang smoked cannabis six days before the raid along the corridor outside his flat along Yishun Avenue. It is not known if someone spotted him doing so.

On the day of his arrest, officers from the CNB and the Jurong Division Headquarters had gone to his home and asked if he had anything in his room to surrender. Kang replied he did not.

But their search uncovered 16 suspicious items, including six bottles bearing labels for chemicals such as potassium nitrate, potassium chloride powder and isopropyl alcohol.

They also seized weapons including one metal tin containing 22 cartridges or cartridge cases, an airsoft pistol that could fire pellets at speeds of up to 80 metres per second, an airsoft rifle part, two containers of air rifle pellets, a toy gun with 13 plastic disc caps, and a Smith & Wesson knife.

A packet of vegetable matter, which was later found to contain cannabis, and an e-cigarette with five small bottles of liquid for the e-cigarette, were also uncovered.

OFFENCES COMMITTED SINCE TEENS

Police investigations revealed that Kang had conducted Internet searches on how to manufacture his own homemade explosives just days before the raid. In November 2014, he also conducted an online search for "improvised weapon".

According to a Health Sciences Authority report, one of the substances seized was a type of propellant "very likely able" to produce an "explosion or a pyrotechnic effect".

Kang was unable to provide the police with the identity and contact details of his alleged ammunition suppliers.

Further investigations revealed that as far back as when he was in Secondary Three, Kang had obtained loaded ammunition cartridges from his seniors in school. A year after that, he started smoking cannabis after learning how to do it from the Internet.

He had also, in his teenage years, successfully made an explosive known as rocket candy after following an online recipe.

SENTENCING ARGUMENTS

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kumaseran Gohulabalan noted that Kang's ability to use the items in his flat "for nefarious purposes cannot be seriously disputed". He also pointed to an "alarming rise" in cannabis consumption among new drug abusers in recent years.

Calling for probation, Kang's lawyer said in mitigation that his client had come across online articles about cannabis while waiting to enter polytechnic, but did not act on his curiosity. A few months later, some of his acquaintances offered him a puff of cannabis mixture that they had rolled into cigarettes.

After his grandfather and uncle died, and his girlfriend broke up with him in early 2015, he decided to approach those acquaintances to get advice on how to sleep better at night. One of them suggested that he smoke cannabis, and he took the advice.

The lawyer added that Kang had bought the airsoft pistol just to understand the mechanics behind it, and did not use or intend to use it as a weapon; the rocket candy was also not meant to be used as an explosive.