12 migrant workers arrested for drug offences at Woodlands dormitory in CNB raid
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
- The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) arrested 12 migrant workers at a Woodlands dormitory on Nov 27, in an operation which had support from other agencies.
- Rooms were searched and the suspects taken away for investigation.
- CNB's 2024 report showed an increase in new abusers. There are also efforts to raise anti-drugs awareness among migrant workers.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Twelve migrant workers in a Woodlands dormitory were arrested for suspected drug-related offences after a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) raid on Nov 27.
The men are aged between 23 and 40 years old. Eleven are Bangladeshis, while one is a Myanmar national.
CNB said on Nov 28 that a 34-year-old Bangladeshi man was arrested for suspected drug trafficking and drug consumption offences.
The four-hour operation involved officers from CNB, the Health Sciences Authority, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, Ministry of Manpower and the police.
The Straits Times was invited to witness the operation, which started with a briefing at around 9pm on Nov 27 at CNB’s headquarters at Police Cantonment Complex.
Members of the media and CNB officers set off in unmarked vehicles to the dormitory.
As rain pelted down, officers entered the dormitory before midnight.
In one room, four migrant workers sat with their heads bowed and legs crossed, their hands cuffed behind their backs. They remained silent as officers searched their luggage and belongings.
A fifth worker in handcuffs was later taken to the room and questioned by officers as they sifted through his wardrobe.
The men’s valuables were packed into clear bags and taken with them as they were escorted out.
In another room, officers nabbed a sixth man. They found suspected drug utensils such as a glass bottle, cut straw and a rubber tube, and sealed them in an evidence bag.
As the suspects were processed, their roommates in these 12-bedded rooms looked on warily.
Dozens of workers watched from the common corridors as the men were led away, past a CNB poster on a fence which spells out an anti-drug message in Tamil: “Throw away drugs; appreciate life.”
In one room, four migrant workers sat with their heads bowed and legs crossed, their hands cuffed behind their backs. They remained silent as officers searched their luggage and belongings.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
At around 1.20am on Nov 28, all the arrested men were taken away in unmarked vehicles for further investigations.
Superintendent Xanthus Tong Hyeng Ji, deputy commanding officer of CNB’s Enforcement J Division, said the operation was part of the bureau’s efforts against drug abuse, trafficking and other criminal activities.
He said: “We want to emphasise that drugs have no place in Singapore, be it in the community, workplace or dormitory.”
CNB’s annual statistics report in February said that the total number of drug abusers arrested in 2024 was 3,119
However, the number of new abusers totalled 966 in 2024, more than the 952 arrested in 2023. The bureau’s report does not identify drug abusers by their nationalities.
CNB’s annual statistics report in February said the total number of drug abusers arrested in 2024 was 3,119, down from the 3,122 nabbed in 2023.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
In a CNB raid on Oct 22 at another foreign worker dormitory in Woodlands Avenue 1,
A 32-year-old man was nabbed for drug trafficking offences, while three others, aged 24, 30 and 36, were arrested for drug abuse.
A total of 68g of cannabis, 18g of Ice, 29 “Yaba” tablets and drug paraphernalia were seized.
