As the year rolls to an end, most of us look back on what we have done and reflect on the lessons that we have learnt - some are gentle reminders while others are probably hard to swallow. Over the last weekend, a traveller had a bitter experience at the checkpoint.

2          On Saturday, 28 December 2013 at about 6.30pm, a Singapore-registered car was stopped by officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) for routine checks upon arrival at Woodlands Checkpoint. The car was driven by a lone 38-year-old male Singaporean.

3          During the course of inspection, the vigilant ICA officers found slabs of tablets hidden in a modified compartment between the car boot and the backseat of the car. ICA officers retrieved 4,500 slabs x 20 tablets of “Nitrazepam” and 4 slabs x 10 tablets of “Midazolam” from the vehicle.

  

4          The exhibits and the Singaporean were referred to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for further investigations. 

       

Modified compartment of the vehicle

“Bitter Pills”

5          HSA reminds the public that it is an offence for anyone found importing or selling substances listed in the Poisons Act without the necessary licences from the Authority. Anyone found guilty of an offence under the Poisons Act is liable on conviction, to a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for a term of up to two years. 

6          Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security.  The security checks are critical to our nation’s security.  ICA will continue to conduct our security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands. The same methods of concealment used by contraband smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore. 

 

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY

31 December 2013