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Brothers, 17 and 25, arrested for suspected drug activities

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Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers arrested two siblings – a 17-year-old student and his 25-year-old brother – for suspected drug activities on Jan 10.

Drugs with an estimated street value of $124,000 were seized during the operation.

They included a total of about 1,073g of cannabis, 85g of Ice, 43g of ketamine, 310g of Ecstasy tablets, 538 Erimin-5 tablets and 198 LSD stamps.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the controlled drugs seized may be linked to drug transactions conducted on Telegram.

CNB officers arrested the teenager in the area of Jurong West Street 93 on Jan 10. About 446g of cannabis, 18g of Ice, 5g of ketamine, 5g of Ecstasy tablets, 90 Erimin-5 tablets and various drug paraphernalia were found on him.

Officers escorted the teenager to his home in the same area, and found about 627g of cannabis, 67g of Ice, 38g of ketamine, 305g of Ecstasy tablets, 448 Erimin-5 tablets and 198 LSD stamps there. His brother was also arrested in the unit.

CNB said it is aware some drug offenders and syndicates have been using encrypted messaging applications like Telegram to conduct their drug activities.

It said: “These drug offenders may think that such applications can offer them a certain level of anonymity to carry out their illegal activities, and evade CNB’s surveillance. CNB is monitoring such developments closely, and has been taking regular enforcement actions against drug offenders who use the Telegram platform for their activities.

“Regardless of the platform or tactics used in an attempt to evade detection, there is no safe haven for drug offenders in Singapore.”

The Straits Times previously reported that CNB had arrested 77 traffickers linked to Telegram transactions between January 2019 and Sept 17, 2021.

Five of them were known to be operators of Telegram drug channels, which are often large enough that they advertise in Telegram groups.

During that period, CNB also nabbed 154 drug abusers linked to Telegram transactions, with 71 per cent of those arrested below the age of 30.

Members of the public can report drug-related activities to CNB at https://www.eservices.cnb.gov.sg/feedback, or call the CNB hotline on 1800-325-6666.

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