Security guard jailed 3 months and 2 weeks for obtaining $70 bribe from sex drug peddler

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Jan 17, 2024

A security officer worked together with an auxiliary policeman from security firm Certis Cisco to obtain $140 in bribes from a peddler selling illegal sex enhancement drugs (SEDs).

Mohammad Hafizudin Hanapiah, who was then employed by Dynamiz Security and contracted to Certis Cisco, committed the offences with Thiru Murugan Shanmugam, 30, said the prosecution.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kiera Yu said that from May to June 2022, Hafizudin abetted Thiru on two occasions to obtain the money from the peddler, Chinese national Chen Zixiong, 31.

According to court documents, the pair obtained the bribes in exchange for refraining from taking enforcement action against Chen.

Hafizudin and Thiru split the bribes in half, with each receiving $70, said the DPP.

On Jan 17, Hafizudin, 30, who is no longer working for Certis Cisco, was sentenced to three months and two weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to a graft charge. He was also ordered a pay a penalty of $70.

The cases against Thiru, who is no longer with Certis Cisco, and Chen are pending.

DPP Yu said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) had formed Foreign Workers Management (FWM) teams to patrol places where such workers congregate.

Each FWM team typically consists of auxiliary police officers, who are in uniform and armed, and security officers, who are in polo shirts and unarmed.

The SPF also had a contract with Certis Cisco to supply auxiliary police officers and security officers for deployment in the FWM teams.

Among other things, the officers were tasked to take action against offences such as littering and the sale of illegal SEDs.

Hafizudin and Thiru were deployed to the same team, known as “Golf 3”, and attached to Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre. The team was tasked to patrol the areas around Geylang.

To commit their offences, Hafizudin and Thiru would first seize the SEDs from a peddler, according to protocol, said DPP Yu.

However, the pair would not hand over all of the seized drugs to the SPF and would retain a portion instead.

Hafizudin would then snap an image of the retained drugs and send the picture to Thiru.

The prosecutor added: “After the rest of the team leaves, Thiru would then secretly approach the peddler in person to offer to return a certain amount of the seized SEDs to him if the peddler agreed to pay a specific sum of money to Thiru.

“Thiru would show the photo of the seized SEDs to the peddler. This sum of money would be a few times higher than the cost price of the SEDs.”

If the peddler agrees, he would slip some cash in a cigarette box that he would place at a certain location.

The court heard that either Hafizudin or Thiru would then collect the money at a later time.

DPP Yu said: “Thiru or Hafizudin would place the agreed amount of SEDS to be returned to the peddler at a location, such as under a traffic cone in an alleyway, and inform the peddler for him to pick it up.

“On some occasions, Thiru or Hafizudin would tip off the peddler in advance of incoming raids... so that the peddler could prepare to escape and avoid detection from the FWM team.”

DPP Yu added that the two men had seen Chen during their patrols in the Geylang area and approached him in May 2022 to obtain the bribes. He agreed to hand over the money.

In August 2022, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau received information about the graft-related offences and Hafizudin was arrested in September 2022.

Two other men, former Certis Cisco officer Mohd Aris Jalil, 66, and Chinese national Chen Dongliang, 33, are also accused of committing similar offences. Their cases are pending.