Singapore DJ Tenashar jailed 18 months for drug offences

Local model and club DJ Tenashar, who fled the country while out on bail for drug offences, was jailed for 18 months yesterday.

The former FHM Singapore cover girl, whose full name is Debbie Valerie Tenashar Long, was found to have traces of drugs, including cocaine, in her urine sample in 2015.

She absconded in November that year, before returning in May last year after her passport expired. She was arrested upon arrival.

The 33-year-old mother of a 12-year-old girl had pleaded guilty to consuming benzoylecgonine, a major metabolite of cocaine and psilocin - a substance found in most psychedelic mushrooms.

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Long also admitted to being in possession of psilocin. One charge of being in possession of a nimetazepam or Erimin-5 tablet was taken into consideration during sentencing.

Acting on information, Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers first arrested Long for drug-related offences at the arrival hall of Changi Airport Terminal 1 around 10.20pm on Oct 28, 2015. She had just returned from a two-week trip to Amsterdam, the court heard.

DJ Tenashar was found to have traces of drugs, including cocaine, in her urine sample in 2015. She fled the country in November that year while out on bail and was caught when she returned in May last year after her passport expired.
DJ Tenashar was found to have traces of drugs, including cocaine, in her urine sample in 2015. She fled the country in November that year while out on bail and was caught when she returned in May last year after her passport expired. PHOTO: UNIVERSAL MUSIC

Officers took her to a CNB office at Bedok Police Divisional Headquarters, where she gave urine samples which were later found to contain traces of benzoylecgonine and psilocin.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Wuan told the court that Long had consumed the drugs overseas.

Officers searched her luggage and found two containers labelled "Psilocybe Atlantis Forbidden Fruit". They contained about 42g of a substance which was found to contain psilocin.

Investigations revealed that Long had bought the drug in Amsterdam and intended to consume it.

Officers escorted Long to her apartment at The Quayside condominium in Robertson Quay around 3am on Oct 29, 2015, and found an Erimin-5 tablet.

The DJ was then taken to the Police Cantonment Complex for further investigations before she was released on bail.

However, she left Singapore on Nov 15, 2015, despite knowing that she had to report back to the CNB.

Yesterday, defence lawyer S.S. Dhillon pleaded for his client to be jailed for not more than a year and four months.

He told District Judge Kessler Soh that Long had used her status as a celebrity DJ to raise funds for charitable causes, including donating her performance fees in 2014 to help earthquake victims in Nepal.

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News of her drug-related offences first made the headlines in April 2016 when The New Paper reported that Long and her then boyfriend Thorsten Nolte, who is in his 40s, were wanted by the CNB.

Mr Nolte was not mentioned in court documents yesterday.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 27, 2019, with the headline Singapore DJ Tenashar jailed 18 months for drug offences. Subscribe