ICA officers seize more than 90,000 'sleeping pills' from driver at Woodlands Checkpoint

More than 90,000 tablets, believed to be sleeping pills, were found hidden in a Singapore-registered car by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at the Woodlands Checkpoint. -- PHOTO: IMMIGRATION AND CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
More than 90,000 tablets, believed to be sleeping pills, were found hidden in a Singapore-registered car by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at the Woodlands Checkpoint. -- PHOTO: IMMIGRATION AND CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY

More than 90,000 tablets, believed to be sleeping pills, were found hidden in a Singapore-registered car by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at the Woodlands Checkpoint.

ICA officers stopped the car, which was driven by a 38-year-old Singaporean, as it arrived at the checkpoint at about 6.30pm on Saturday for a routine check.

During the course of inspection, ICA officers found slabs of the tablets hidden in a modified compartment between the car boot and the back-seat of the car, said a spokesman in a statement on Tuesday. A total of 4,500 slabs, with each containing 20 'Nitrazepam' tablets and four slabs with each containing 10 'Midazolam' tablets, were seized from the vehicle and sent to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for further investigations.

It is an offence for anyone found importing or selling substances listed in the Poisons Act without the necessary licences from the HSA. Anyone found guilty of an offence under the Poisons Act is liable on conviction, to a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for a term of up to two years.

Nitrazepam and Midazolam, the latter often dispensed here as Dormicum, are benzodiazepines usually prescribed by doctors to patients with sleeping problems. Dormicum abusers have been known to inject themselves with the drug and water to get high.

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