Man scales down HDB block to escape drug raid

The suspected drug offender climbing down from a 12th-floor flat in Sin Ming Avenue on Thursday. He was later arrested. The Central Narcotics Bureau nabbed 115 suspected drug offenders in an islandwide operation this week.
The suspected drug offender climbing down from a 12th-floor flat in Sin Ming Avenue on Thursday. He was later arrested. The Central Narcotics Bureau nabbed 115 suspected drug offenders in an islandwide operation this week. PHOTO: CNB

A suspected drug offender threw items out of a kitchen window before scaling down from the 12th-storey unit in Sin Ming Avenue in a desperate bid to escape from narcotics officers.

The 38-year-old man was arrested by officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) when he entered a unit on the ninth floor on Thursday.

Two other suspects were arrested in the lift on the ground floor of the same Housing Board block.

The CNB officers then recovered 354g of Ice thrown from the unit and escorted the suspect who had scaled down the block back to the flat, where about 693g of Ice and 87 Ecstasy tablets were recovered.

Follow-up investigations led to the arrest of three other suspects, including a 40-year-old man from an apartment unit in Marine Vista and another 37-year-old man who arrived at the unit during the raid.

A total of 432g of cannabis was recovered from a private apartment unit in Robey Crescent during the arrest of another 31-year-old suspect on Thursday night.

All six suspected offenders are Singaporean males.

The seized drugs were worth a total of $143,000.

The six men were among 115 suspected drug offenders arrested in a four-day islandwide operation by the CNB which began on Monday and ended early yesterday.

The operations were carried out with the police and covered areas including Balestier, Boon Lay, Buangkok, Bukit Batok, Eunos, Marsiling, Sembawang, Whampoa, Woodlands and Yishun.

Drugs including Ice, cannabis, heroin, ketamine and Ecstasy tablets, estimated to be worth $164,000 in total, were seized.

According to the CNB, 1,275g of Ice is sufficient to feed the addiction of 728 abusers for a week, while 1,037g of cannabis is sufficient to feed the addiction of 148 abusers for a week.

Investigations into the drug activities of all the arrested people are ongoing.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 15, 2019, with the headline Man scales down HDB block to escape drug raid. Subscribe