Over 28kg of cocaine seized from foreign-registered commercial vessel

The police coast guard (PCG) has seized over 28kg of cocaine found on a foreign-registered commercial vessel in Singapore waters.

The police shared on Tuesday (Aug 25) that the PCG was alerted to suspicious packages on board the vessel last Friday before conducting a search of the ship.

Officers found two packages believed to contain controlled drugs concealed in the sea chests strainers and alerted the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).

The bureau then took over the case and seized the packages, later establishing that they contained over 28kg of cocaine.

According to preliminary investigations by CNB, the vessel was reportedly transiting through Singapore and the drugs were not meant for the local market, the police said.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, those found guilty of importing or exporting more than 30g of cocaine in Singapore may face the mandatory death penalty.

This 28kg haul of the drug is among the largest recently, with the PCG and CNB seizing more than 8kg of cocaine from a foreign-registered commercial vessel early this month.

In a joint operation by the two authorities on Aug 5, the drug was seized from a ship at the Raffles Reserved Anchorage, located between Pulau Senang and Pulau Semakau.

In July last year, five foreign women, aged 21 to 48, were arrested at Changi Airport for suspected drug trafficking, after close to 27kg of cocaine was found in their luggage. 

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CNB said then that the arrest was made following an exchange of intelligence with the Narcotics Bureau of the Hong Kong police.

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