Drug dealers, underage drivers caught using deregistered vehicles as cases surge

SINGAPORE - Criminals and underage drivers have been using deregistered vehicles in an attempt to evade the law.

And some of these vehicles have been involved in hit-and-run accidents.

The number of cases involving deregistered vehicles has risen, with the authorities reporting a surge in 2025.

In his speech during the debate on the

Land Transport and Related Matters Bill

on Feb 3, Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow revealed there were 245 cases reported in 2025.

This is more than six times the 40 cases in 2022, and 39 cases in 2023.

There were 75 cases in 2024.

The most recently reported incident involving a deregistered vehicle was on Jan 16, when a 17-year-old was arrested after a

dramatic car chase in Geylang

.

The deregistered silver hatchback collided with four cars and a van before the teen tried to escape on foot.

He was later found to have been under the influence of drugs, with a vape also found in the car.

In 2024, a deregistered car was found

abandoned in the middle of the PIE

after it collided with four other vehicles.

Mr Siow told Parliament that stiffer penalties are necessary, and some of these vehicles have been used for drug trafficking.

He said: “These vehicles also pose serious road safety risks, as they operate without valid insurance or periodic inspections, and are often involved in hit-and-run accidents.”

Currently, those caught keeping or using a deregistered vehicle can be fined up to $2,000 and jailed for up to three months for a first offence.

Repeat offenders can be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to six months.

But with the passing of the Bill on Feb 4, the penalties will be raised to a maximum fine of $20,000 and two years’ jail for a first offence, and $40,000 and four years’ jail for repeat offenders.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, a spokesman for the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said vehicle owners must provide satisfactory proof of disposal within a month from the vehicle’s deregistration date.

This proof must show that the vehicle has been scrapped, stored at an Export Processing Zone awaiting export, or has been exported.

Owners who fail to do so can be prosecuted in court.

When asked how some of these deregistered vehicles then found their way back onto Singapore’s roads illegally, the LTA spokesman said it could not disclose this due to the confidentiality of investigations.

One way however, was reported in detail after the culprits were prosecuted in court.

In 2021, a man was

jailed for selling and renting deregistered cars

which were used to commit crime.

The scheme involved buying cars with certificates of entitlement close to expiry, and grinding off the chassis and engine numbers.

The licence plates were replaced with clones that were of an existing registered car of similar colour, make and model.

The in-vehicle unit was also replaced with that of another registered vehicle.

Documents that made the vehicles appear to have been exported or about to be exported were submitted to the authorities.

The modified cars were touted as untraceable, and were sold and rented on a no questions asked basis.

There were no checks on whether the buyer was even legally allowed to drive.

The deregistered cars sold and rented by the man were

used in at least six other criminal cases

, including those involved in road traffic violations and in a case of unlicensed moneylending-related harassment.

It took extensive investigations for the cases to be uncovered, as identifying deregistered cars is challenging.

District Judge Marvin Bay, who had passed the sentence, had noted in his judgment then that there was enormous potential for knock-on consequences in civil and criminal liabilities if such vehicles were used to commit crime.