S'porean drug trafficker caught in Thailand extradited to S'pore & charged, faces death sentence

A 50-year-old Singaporean man who was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand on Jul. 5 for alleged drug trafficking has been extradited to Singapore, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a press release on Jul. 9.

He was then charged in a district court on Jul. 10 for his drug trafficking offences and faces the death penalty, CNA reported.

Linked to a previous case

The man, Tan Leng Chong, was transferred to Singapore and handed over to CNB at the airport.

CNB said that his alleged involvement in the suspected drug trafficking came to light while CNB was investigating a drug trafficking case in Jul. 2024.

In that case, another 64-year-old man, identified as N M Mahendran by CNA, was arrested and is now facing a charge for allegedly trafficking almost 5kg of cannabis mixture on around Jul. 29, 2024.

Tan was accused of abetting drug trafficking by conspiring with Mahendran in this same traffic.

S$1,000 was also seized from Mahendran during his arrest and used as evidence in an investigation on additional money laundering offences.

Arrest warrant issued

Tan was noted by CNB to have been out of the country since Jul. 27, 2023.

They reached out to foreign counterparts to keep a lookout for Tan's whereabouts, and issued an arrest warrant on suspicion of supplying drugs to peddlers and traffickers in Singapore.

He was subsequently caught by Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) in Bangkok on Jul. 5, after they identified and trailed him from Pattaya, Thailand.

He was suspected to be part of an international narcotics ring.

CNB also said that money laundering investigations will be launched against him.

Accounts with more than S$242,000, believed to be linked to Tan and which will be forfeited to the state, have also been frozen by the related banks and the Singapore Police Force's Anti-Scam Centre.

Death penalty

According to CNA, Tan was remanded and appeared in his court hearing on Jul. 10 via video-link.

As cannabis is a Class A controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, he faces the death penalty for his abetment, or assistance, of Mahendran in trafficking more than 1kg of cannabis, if convicted.

The prosecution requested for permission to take Tan out for investigations in order to trace the source of drugs in his charge.

Tan will return to court on Jul. 17 for another hearing.

Close cooperation

CNB acting director Leon Chan expressed his appreciation for the ONCB's support in Tan's arrest.

"The close cooperation between CNB and ONCB in this operation is testament to the strong working relationship and trust that CNB has with ONCB," Chan said in the CNB's press release.

"CNB will continue to collaborate closely with our foreign counterparts to track down drug syndicates and dismantle their networks no matter where they operate."

Top images via CNB & ONCB/Facebook