SINGAPORE - A 25-year-old Singaporean man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly importing drugs via post.

About 104g of ketamine, 37g of "Ice", 120 Erimin-5 tablets and 299 Ecstasy tablets, were also seized in the process.

At about 3pm on Thursday, an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer found a parcel which had arrived from a neighbouring country suspicious. The parcel was declared to contain books. The officer then sent the parcel for further checks.

Inside the parcel, there was a locked safe-box disguised as a book and it contained about 103g of ketamine and 299 tablets suspected to be "Ecstasy" tablets.

The items were handed over to officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), who conducted follow-up investigations.

CNB officers proceeded to raid a unit in Marsiling Drive, where they arrested the 25-year-old. Officers also recovered about 37g of "Ice", a small amount of ketamine, 120 Erimin-5 tablets and various capsules and tablets suspected to contain controlled drugs. A safe-box disguised as a book, similar to the one found within the parcel earlier, was also found in the unit.

Investigations are ongoing.

If convicted of importing the controlled drugs, the suspect faces at least five years in jail and five strokes of the cane.

In a joint statement, the CNB and ICA said they will continue to conduct checks on items brought in via the checkpoints or the postal system to prevent attempts to smuggle in contrabands such as controlled drugs, weapons and explosives.