In a joint statement by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), the two agencies shared that a man has been arrested by the authorities at the Woodlands Checkpoint for possession of cannabis.
It is said that on 22 July 2015 at about 5.50am, a 20-year-old male Malaysian was stopped for routine checks upon his arrival at Woodlands Checkpoint.
During the course of checks, ICA officers from the detected a bulge around his waist. A package wrapped with newspapers and plastic wrapper suspected to be cannabis was found on the man’s back around the waist, tucked in his pants.
Officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau were immediately alerted of the detection. Investigations are ongoing. The seized package was found to contain about 900g of cannabis, worth an estimated street value of about S$29,000.
Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, those convicted of importing more than 500g of cannabis may face the death penalty. 900g of cannabis is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 128 cannabis abusers for a week.
The authorites emphasise that Singapore borders is the first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore’s security, and security checks are critical to the nation’s security and that the Home Team agencies will continue to conduct checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands.