Malaysian man, 22, arrested with 4.7kg of heroin worth over $331,400 at Woodlands Checkpoint

Ang Qing
The Straits Times
Aug 8, 2023

More than 4.7kg of heroin was seized from a Malaysia-registered car arriving at Woodlands Checkpoint last Saturday evening.

This is the largest haul of the drug seized at Singapore’s checkpoints so far in 2023.

A 22-year-old Malaysian man who was travelling in the car has been arrested for suspected drug offences, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The smuggling attempt was foiled by ICA officers, who had detected a haversack in the car boot while checking the vehicle.

A big bundle believed to contain controlled drugs was found and CNB officers were immediately alerted, the authorities said.

Ten bundles of heroin weighing a total of 4,723g were found in the big bundle.

The seized heroin is estimated to be worth more than $331,400 and can feed the addiction of about 2,240 abusers for a week.

Investigations into the drug activities of the arrested suspect are ongoing. Under the law, those who import more than 15g of pure heroin face the death penalty.

In May 2022, nearly 18kg of heroin was seized from a car at Woodlands Checkpoint, resulting in the arrest of three suspects in Singapore. This was the largest reported haul of heroin since 2001, when officers found 34.8kg of the drug.