Five people were arrested after a trash bag containing about 6kg of Kratom leaves were found being smuggled into Singapore on 3 January.
The Kratom leaves contain mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, which are categorized as Class A controlled drugs.
ICA officers at Woodlands Checkpoint noticed anomalies in the scanned images when the lorry was trying to enter Singapore.
A trash bag that contained 22 bundles of 5.8kg of Kratom leaves were found being hidden in the battery compartment of the lorry.
The Malaysian driver of the lorry, a 33-year-old, was arrested and subsequently referred to CNB.
CNB officers then arrested a 33-year-old Singaporean man, a 40-year-old Malaysian man, and another 27-year0old Malaysian man near Pandan Loop in their follow-up operations on the same day.
A 31-year-old Malaysian man was then arrested at a commercial building at Beach Road the next day.
ICA and CNB then released a statement on 5 January that investigations are ongoing at the moment.
What are Kratom leaves?
Kratom leaves are used in traditional medicine and are commonly pounded into a liquid or brewed before consuming – they can also be chewed.
The leaves are known to cause severe side effects such as damage to the liver of the heart.
The last time Kratom leaves were seized at a checkpoint was back in 2019.
Persons found guilty of importing Class A controlled drugs into Singapore face a minimum of 5 years in prison as well as 5 strokes of the cane.