Man who made explosive, smoked weed in teenage years pleads guilty to five charges

SINGAPORE — In Secondary Three, he obtained loaded ammunition cartridges from his seniors in school.

In Secondary Four, he started smoking weed, after learning how to do it from the Internet.

A year later, he followed an online recipe and successfully made an explosive called R-Candy, also known as rocket candy.

Kang Chun How, now 22, also got an airsoft pistol able to fire pellets at speeds of up to 80 metres per second.

Hauled to court after being busted on Sept 16, 2015, Kang pleaded guilty to five charges on Monday (Jan 29) for unlicensed possession of explosives and an airsoft pistol, unlawful possession of ammunition, as well as drug consumption and possession.

Court documents showed that he last smoked weed along the corridor outside his flat at Blk 426D Yishun Avenue 11 six days prior to the raid.

The day he was arrested, officers of the Central Narcotics Bureau and the Jurong Division Headquarters had gone to his home and asked if he had anything to surrender in his room. Kang replied he did not.

A search uncovered 16 suspicious items – six were bottles that appeared to be related to explosive-making and bore labels such as potassium nitrate, potassium chloride powder and isopropyl alcohol.

Weapons seized include one metal tin containing 22 cartridges or cartridge cases, an airsoft pistol, an airsoft rifle part, two containers of BB pellets, a toy gun with 13 plastic disc caps, and a Smith & Wesson knife.

The officers also found 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.

Further investigations revealed that Kang had conducted Internet searches on “how to make a sparkler rockets (sic)”, “KWA aluminium rocket valve”, “shooters design rocket valve”, “RCC rocket valve”, “firefly rocket valve” and “best ksc rocket valve” days before the raid.

He had also done an online search for “improvised weapon” in November 2014.

The R-Candy substance seized was a type of propellant “very likely able” to produce a “practical effect by explosion or a pyrotechnic effect”, according to a Health Sciences Authority report.

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

Kang, who is out on bail, is expected to be sentenced on Feb 21. He is represented by lawyer Anil Singh.

For his unlicensed possession of an airsoft pistol, ammunition and explosives, Kang could be jailed up to three years and fined up to S$10,000 for each charge.