Drugs stuffed inside hollow wooden frameSmugglers stash $250,000 worth of ketamine in jewellery boxes
January 09, 2008
By Andre Yeo
Electric News (Singapore)
THEY were boxes to display jewellery. But what they carried turned out to be something more sinister - drugs.
All 5kg of them.
It was the first time such a method had been used to hide drugs, in this case ketamine, said the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
It was a clever disguise but, thanks to a whistle-blower, the drugs will not make it into the hands of abusers.
On 2 Jan, CNB officers received a tip-off that there were drugs on a flight bound for Taipei, Taiwan.
CNB immediately contacted the courier company, which the smugglers had used, to intercept the shipment - a cardboard box.
The company quickly retrieved it and took it to their warehouse at Changi Cargo Complex, where several international courier companies are located.
The drugs had a street value of about $250,000 and were in the wooden frames of 12 jewellery display boxes, each measuring about 40cm long and 25cm wide.
DIDN'T COME FROM S'PORE
CNB declined to reveal the name of the company or where the drugs were shipped from as investigations are ongoing.
However, they did say it did not originate from Singapore. The drugs were also not meant for the local market.
No suspects have been arrested.
The box was thoroughly X-rayed by the Singapore Airport Terminal Services, which conducts screening for cargo at the complex for contraband.
From the X-ray images, officers found something suspicious.
CNB then unleashed two narcotics dogs from the Police K-9 unit on it.
DOGS ZOOM IN
Despite being tightly sealed, the package held the dogs' attention. Their behaviour told the officers they had hit the jackpot.
Using crowbars, officers prised opened the frames of the jewellery boxes and found the drugs.
A CNB spokesman told The New Paper that just by looking at the boxes, you would not have known there were drugs hidden in them.
CNB said this was the second case in which officers seized drugs hidden in a commercial consignment in transit.
In November last year, 6.3kg of ketamine were found hidden in a wood carving among a consignment of paintings also bound for Taiwan.
That seizure was the largest ketamine seizure ever.
Last Wednesday's bust was the second-largest.
Ketamine is one of the scourges in Taiwan.
In 2004, the Taipei Times reported that Taiwanese police had arrested suspected members of a drug trafficking ring after confiscating 63kg of liquid ketamine.
The smugglers had put bags of frozen ketamine in containers of live fish, disguising the drugs as bags of ice to keep the shipment fresh.
The drug had an estimated street value of US$2.9 million ($4.2m).
Investigators had been tipped off that a cross-border drug trafficking ring was planning to smuggle ketamine from Cambodia to Taiwan via Thailand.
And, according to the US Consulate General in Hong Kong website, their research on Taiwan last year showed that China, the Philippines, and Malaysia were seen as intermediary smuggling points for psychotropic drugs like ketamine bound for Taiwan.
India was also emerging as a primary source for diverted pharmaceutical-grade liquid ketamine.
Courier companies here have been used before by drug smugglers.
In August 2000, CNB officers arrested two men for smuggling 2.6g of methamphetamine hydrochloride, better known as Ice, into Singapore through an international courier firm.
The drugs were found in an envelope.
Ketamine is an anaesthetic for veterinary as well as human use.
The drug comes in white crystalline powder, liquid or tablet form.
CNB said on its website that it is a common party drug in Hong Kong, the US and Australia.
Ketamine can make the abuser feel like he is in a dreamy state, followed by the inability to move, or remember what has happened.
The effects last an hour or less but the drug can affect the senses, judgment and co-ordination for 18 to 24 hours.
AFFECT ALL SENSES
It can affect hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste.
It can also cause confusion and hallucination, nose bleeding, gastric pain and bladder problems.
Anyone convicted of possessing or consuming the drug can be jailed up to 10 years or fined $20,000 or both.
Those convicted of illegal trafficking of ketamine can be jailed up to 20years and given 15 strokes of the cane.
For illegally importing or exporting the drug, you can be jailed up to 30years or for life, and be given 15 strokes of the cane.
Multiple checks to weed out illegal packages
WHEN a package is not declared properly, alarm bells go up at UPS.
And every now and then, they will intercept drugs, weapons and fake branded goods.
The New Paper asked four courier companies what steps they took to prevent illegal items from being shipped via their courier service.
Only UPS responded.
In an e-mail reply to The New Paper, Mr James Goh, vice-president of international trade services, UPS Asia Pacific Region, said they had several levels of checks.
For shippers without an existing UPS account, UPS will record and check their particulars against identity papers such as their identify cards or passports.
The second level of security checks is to identify 'high-risk shipments', which may include drugs, contraband, and controlled items like weapons and explosives.
UPS officers will conduct physical inspections with border agencies.
Mr Goh said such shipments are usually under-valued shipments, which have been declared wrongly, to evade customs duties and licensing control.
All outbound and inbound items are screened using X-ray machines and drug and explosive sniffer dogs.
Mr Goh added that as a transportation carrier, UPS does not have access to the contents of the goods being shipped, and rely on the shipping documents provided by the shippers for the description of the goods.
He said this means that, in Singapore, the shipper or owner of the goods is held responsible for any smuggling, misdeclaration or under-valuation of items.
He said, so far, prohibited drugs, some weapons, and fake branded items are found about once a year.
All 5kg of them.
It was the first time such a method had been used to hide drugs, in this case ketamine, said the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
It was a clever disguise but, thanks to a whistle-blower, the drugs will not make it into the hands of abusers.
On 2 Jan, CNB officers received a tip-off that there were drugs on a flight bound for Taipei, Taiwan.
CNB immediately contacted the courier company, which the smugglers had used, to intercept the shipment - a cardboard box.
The company quickly retrieved it and took it to their warehouse at Changi Cargo Complex, where several international courier companies are located.
The drugs had a street value of about $250,000 and were in the wooden frames of 12 jewellery display boxes, each measuring about 40cm long and 25cm wide.
DIDN'T COME FROM S'PORE
CNB declined to reveal the name of the company or where the drugs were shipped from as investigations are ongoing.
However, they did say it did not originate from Singapore. The drugs were also not meant for the local market.
No suspects have been arrested.
The box was thoroughly X-rayed by the Singapore Airport Terminal Services, which conducts screening for cargo at the complex for contraband.
From the X-ray images, officers found something suspicious.
CNB then unleashed two narcotics dogs from the Police K-9 unit on it.
DOGS ZOOM IN
Despite being tightly sealed, the package held the dogs' attention. Their behaviour told the officers they had hit the jackpot.
Using crowbars, officers prised opened the frames of the jewellery boxes and found the drugs.
A CNB spokesman told The New Paper that just by looking at the boxes, you would not have known there were drugs hidden in them.
CNB said this was the second case in which officers seized drugs hidden in a commercial consignment in transit.
In November last year, 6.3kg of ketamine were found hidden in a wood carving among a consignment of paintings also bound for Taiwan.
That seizure was the largest ketamine seizure ever.
Last Wednesday's bust was the second-largest.
Ketamine is one of the scourges in Taiwan.
In 2004, the Taipei Times reported that Taiwanese police had arrested suspected members of a drug trafficking ring after confiscating 63kg of liquid ketamine.
The smugglers had put bags of frozen ketamine in containers of live fish, disguising the drugs as bags of ice to keep the shipment fresh.
The drug had an estimated street value of US$2.9 million ($4.2m).
Investigators had been tipped off that a cross-border drug trafficking ring was planning to smuggle ketamine from Cambodia to Taiwan via Thailand.
And, according to the US Consulate General in Hong Kong website, their research on Taiwan last year showed that China, the Philippines, and Malaysia were seen as intermediary smuggling points for psychotropic drugs like ketamine bound for Taiwan.
India was also emerging as a primary source for diverted pharmaceutical-grade liquid ketamine.
Courier companies here have been used before by drug smugglers.
In August 2000, CNB officers arrested two men for smuggling 2.6g of methamphetamine hydrochloride, better known as Ice, into Singapore through an international courier firm.
The drugs were found in an envelope.
Ketamine is an anaesthetic for veterinary as well as human use.
The drug comes in white crystalline powder, liquid or tablet form.
CNB said on its website that it is a common party drug in Hong Kong, the US and Australia.
Ketamine can make the abuser feel like he is in a dreamy state, followed by the inability to move, or remember what has happened.
The effects last an hour or less but the drug can affect the senses, judgment and co-ordination for 18 to 24 hours.
AFFECT ALL SENSES
It can affect hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste.
It can also cause confusion and hallucination, nose bleeding, gastric pain and bladder problems.
Anyone convicted of possessing or consuming the drug can be jailed up to 10 years or fined $20,000 or both.
Those convicted of illegal trafficking of ketamine can be jailed up to 20years and given 15 strokes of the cane.
For illegally importing or exporting the drug, you can be jailed up to 30years or for life, and be given 15 strokes of the cane.
Multiple checks to weed out illegal packages
WHEN a package is not declared properly, alarm bells go up at UPS.
And every now and then, they will intercept drugs, weapons and fake branded goods.
The New Paper asked four courier companies what steps they took to prevent illegal items from being shipped via their courier service.
Only UPS responded.
In an e-mail reply to The New Paper, Mr James Goh, vice-president of international trade services, UPS Asia Pacific Region, said they had several levels of checks.
For shippers without an existing UPS account, UPS will record and check their particulars against identity papers such as their identify cards or passports.
The second level of security checks is to identify 'high-risk shipments', which may include drugs, contraband, and controlled items like weapons and explosives.
UPS officers will conduct physical inspections with border agencies.
Mr Goh said such shipments are usually under-valued shipments, which have been declared wrongly, to evade customs duties and licensing control.
All outbound and inbound items are screened using X-ray machines and drug and explosive sniffer dogs.
Mr Goh added that as a transportation carrier, UPS does not have access to the contents of the goods being shipped, and rely on the shipping documents provided by the shippers for the description of the goods.
He said this means that, in Singapore, the shipper or owner of the goods is held responsible for any smuggling, misdeclaration or under-valuation of items.
He said, so far, prohibited drugs, some weapons, and fake branded items are found about once a year.
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