More than 40 under probe after multi-agency raid in Geylang on illegal and vice activities

SINGAPORE - A total of 41 people are under investigation after a series of multi-agency enforcement operations were conducted in Geylang between Aug 23 and Sept 1.

The operations were jointly conducted by the Singapore Police Force, Health Sciences Authority, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, Land Transport Authority (LTA), Singapore Food Agency and Singapore Customs.

The police said on Sept 30 that the aim was to clamp down on illegal activities in the Geylang area, such as illegal gambling, vice activities, illegal sale of health products, drug-related activities and illegal hawking.

Of the 41 people being investigated for various offences, 22 are men and 19 are women – aged between 20 and 78. Another 13 men and one woman were fined.

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department, Bedok Police Division and Central Narcotics Bureau conducted checks at public entertainment outlets, massage parlours and hotels, and carried out anti-vice operations in Geylang Road and the smaller streets off Geylang Road.

Five public entertainment outlets in Geylang Road and Aljunied Road were found on Aug 23 to have breached licensing conditions, said the police, adding that four licensees were fined while another will be investigated for the breaches.

Two massage parlours in Geylang Road were found to be operating illegally on Aug 26, and two men aged 45 and 57 are being investigated.

During the operations, 15 women aged between 20 and 53 were arrested. Separately, a 31-year-old man and a 53-year-old man were also nabbed.

During enforcement operations against illegal gambling activities in Ubi Avenue 3 and Ubi Road 2 on Aug 25, five men and four women were arrested for their alleged involvement in gambling-related offences. Seven other men are under investigation.

Those found guilty of gambling with an unlawful gambling service provider may be fined up to $10,000, or jailed for up to six months, or both.

Between Aug 26 and 29, unregistered health products, including cough syrup, with an estimated street value of $9,100, were seized during a joint operation targeting the illegal sale of health products and illegal drug activities.

Three men, aged between 23 and 33, are being investigated. If they are found guilty of importing, manufacturing and/or supplying unregistered health products, they can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $50,000.

Ten men were issued composition sums for possessing duty-unpaid cigarettes, following an operation by officers from Singapore Customs in Geylang on Aug 29.

On the same day, LTA officers conducted an operation in Geylang, targeting illegally modified personal mobility devices (PMDs) and power-assisted bicycles (PABs).

Two men, aged 23 and 72, are under investigation. A PMD and a PAB were impounded during the operation, said the police.

“(We) will continue to work closely with other enforcement agencies to clamp down on such illegal activities in Geylang,” the police said. “Offenders will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law.”