HSA raids Beo Crescent flat, uncovers 1st S’pore case of illegal production of sex enhancement drugs
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Around 18,000 units of illegal items were seized during a raid on March 21.
PHOTOS: HSA
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SINGAPORE - A 36-year-old man is assisting the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) with investigations into the illegal manufacture of sex enhancement medicines in Singapore, a first here.
In a statement on April 21, the agency said the probe involves the suspected illegal manufacture and supply of sex drugs, and the sale of e-vaporisers, or vapes as they are more commonly known.
More than $51,000 worth of sexual enhancement prescription medicine, manufacturing equipment and 30 vapes were seized from a Beo Crescent flat in Tiong Bahru during a raid on March 21. Around 18,000 units of illegal items were seized.
HSA conducted the raid after receiving a tip-off that the Housing Board flat’s occupants could be illegally manufacturing and storing health products there.
The seized equipment and paraphernalia were used to produce capsules, and included machines for sealing blister packs and filling capsules, said HSA. Also seized were printed labels for the sexual enhancement products, empty gelatine capsules, bottles and containers, it added.
Health products made in unlicensed facilities pose an immense health risk to consumers who take them, said HSA’s director of enforcement Annie Tan.
“There is no knowing what the capsules contain, and the consequences would have been dire should this illegal manufacturing facility not have been disrupted and shut down,” she added.
HSA said it has not detected the sale of the illegally manufactured products online, but has alerted e-commerce and social media platforms to prevent online listings of such illegal goods.
In 2024, HSA found and removed more than 7,300 listings of illegal health products on local e-commerce and social media platforms. That figure was down from the more than 12,000 similar listings discovered and taken down in 2023.
Anyone convicted of importing, manufacturing or supplying illegal health products faces a two-year jail term and a $50,000 fine.
Kinetics Empire, previously known as Vision Empire International, was fined $25,000 in September 2023 for making more than 105,000 face masks in unhygienic conditions and without a valid licence.
Those convicted of importing, distributing or selling e-vaporisers, commonly known as vapes, face a $10,000 fine or six-month imprisonment for their first offence. The punishment doubles for a second or subsequent offence.
