Two men arrested after loaded pistol found in Jurong West raid
Suspected drug offenders arrested in joint CNB and police operation, pistol and bullets recovered from Jurong West unit
Two men, suspected to be drug offenders, have been arrested after a loaded firearm was found during a raid in Jurong West.
The suspects, aged 24 and 25, were arrested on Tuesday and yesterday respectively in a joint operation by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and Singapore Police Force.
This is believed to be the first case since 2009 involving the illegal possession of firearms in Singapore.
In a press conference yesterday, police said they received information from CNB on Monday that a 24-year-old suspect was in possession of a firearm.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and CNB, with support of the Special Operations Command and the Police Intelligence Department, immediately organised a joint operation and conducted extensive intelligence probes.
The next day, police and CNB arrested the man at the void deck of his residential block in the vicinity of Jurong West Street 72.
PISTOL FOUND
He was escorted up to his flat, where a search recovered a pistol loaded with four bullets, along with another four spare bullets.
Further investigations revealed that a second man was suspected to have knowingly remained in the company of the 24-year-old man despite being aware that he was in unlawful possession of a firearm.
The 25-year-old was arrested in Woodlands Street 13 yesterday at about 2.30am.
No drugs were found on the two men, and the results of their urine analysis are pending.
Superintendent Daniel Wong, deputy head of the special investigation section in the CID, said yesterday that there is nothing to indicate the gun has been fired in Singapore.
He added that both suspects are Singaporeans and are acquaintances.
The authorities declined comment on the origin of the firearm, believed to be a Seahawk pistol.
Superintendent Aaron Tang, CNB's director of intelligence division, said narcotics officers have come across cases where drug offenders are sometimes prepared to resort to violence, even using firearms.
"This poses a clear and present threat to society, and it also poses a danger to our frontline officers who need to enforce the law."
The two men will be charged in court today.
If found guilty of being in unlawful possession of any arm or ammunition, the first suspect faces between five and 10 years' jail and at least six strokes of the cane.
The second man "shall be liable on conviction to the like punishment as that other person with whom he was consorting or in whose company he was found", CNB and police said.
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