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Tuesday, November 12, 2024
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NSF PART TIME JOB GONE WRONG, CAUGHT WITH $3.1M WORTH OF VAPES

Young Man Arrested for Packing Illegal E-Vaporisers, Seeks Probation

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A 21-year-old man, Tan Teck Jin, has pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing imitation tobacco products and vaporisers for sale under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act. Tan was arrested in March 2023 after the authorities busted a warehouse unit used to store over 130,000 sets of e-cigarettes and over 60,000 pieces of vape pods worth S$3.1 million, Singapore’s largest such seizure to date.

According to CNA, Tan’s lawyers, Mr Tang Shangwei and Mr Warren Tian from WongPartnership, sought probation for their client, citing his young age at the time, remorse, and achievements in National Service (NS) and as a boxer. According to Tan’s lawyers, he was not involved in the management or supervision of the operations at the unit and his role was simply to pack the goods.

Tan had taken up a part-time job packing e-vaporisers and components for delivery while waiting to begin his NS. He was paid S$20 an hour and worked from 9 am to 6 pm on Mondays to Fridays. Tan was paid about S$3,000 for the month of January 2023, and his salary was collected on his behalf from Malaysia on one occasion.

The police detained six people for having e-cigarettes and other products at a multi-storey car park, and the products were traced to the warehouse unit in Mandai. A team of officers from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) was deployed to the unit, and they seized an accomplice, See Hong Jian, outside the unit. Tan was detained that same day when he arrived for “work”, along with five others.

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The total street value of the seized items was S$3,121,328. Forensic testing showed that the devices were used to communicate with customers on Telegram and WhatsApp, including the discussion of purchase prices, payment methods, and dates of orders. Further investigations revealed that payments from customers were being transferred to Malaysia to pay suppliers based there.

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