Yishun man is 1st in S'pore to be convicted of manufacturing Kpods

A man who manufactured and sold etomidate-laced vape pods from his home in Yishun has been convicted in the State Courts for his crime.

Mohammed Akil Abdul Rahim, 41, pleaded guilty on Aug. 13 to three different charges, including the possession of 26.4g of etomidate powder, 100 e-vaporiser pods and 2688 pod components for sale.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) sought a total of 12 to 15 months' imprisonment, but Akil will be sentenced at a later date.

Courier went to police

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the 100 Kpods were meant to be delivered to a customer in a parcel, but Akil was caught after a Lalamove deliveryman who had picked up the parcel went to the police when he found vape pods in it.

HSA authorities then raided the home in Yishun, which Akil shared with his mother, and found a stash of pod components, casings and covers, as well as Akil's personal e-vapes and pods.

A bag of white powder, confirmed to be 26.4g of powdered etomidate, along with syringes and a miniature weighing scale to weigh the powder were also found.

HSA noted that the amount of powder found is enough to fill about 72 pods.

Akil claimed that one "Joe" he had met in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, had offered to pay him for preparing etomidate-laced vape pods for Singaporean customers.

"Joe" would provide the components and ingredients required to make the Kpod, after which Akil was tasked to create a mixture of e-liquid and etomidate powder before filling the pods.

Potential customers were given Akil's contact number to place orders, the court documents noted.

For each vape pod sold, Akil was paid S$10 by "Joe".

Akil told the court that the 100 vape pods he had attempted to deliver before being caught were intended for one "Beast".

It was the second order he had prepared and sold to a customer.

"Replacement drug to make people high"

Etomidate is listed as a poison under the Poisons Act 1938.

It is typically used for general anaesthesia and is administered intravenously.

According to HSA, side effects of etomidate consumption include nausea, vomiting, uncontrollable spasms and shivering.

Inhaling etomidate can also result in psychiatric symptoms like mood swings and increased impulsivity, in turn potentially leading to suicide attempts, aggression and other dangerous acts.

Medically, inhaled etomidate can also cause hypertension, generate excessive levels of the male sex hormone, altered consciousness slow response and dizziness.

Akil told the court that the etomidate he administered in the vape pods were used as "a replacement drug to make people high", despite him knowing that it is classified as a poison.

He had been taught to make the liquid mixture by "Joe", he said.

1st convicted case in Singapore

The HSA prosecutor said Akil's conviction marks the first court prosecution of a Kpod-linked case in Singapore.

The government has increasingly cracked down on etomidate use in vapes in recent months.

Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung announced on Jul. 20 that etomidate will soon be listed as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, which means that offenders may face jail term and caning.

Vape disposal bins were also introduced in neighbourhoods on Jul. 25, encouraging vape users to dispose of their e-vaporisers under anonymity before the law catches up with them.

HSA said that from March to July 2025, one in three randomly sampled vapes were found to contain ethomidate.

In the first five months of the year, there were also 21 cases of unnatural deaths where etomidate was found in the biological samples of the deceased, the health authority said.

Eight of the 21 cases involved victims under the age of 30.

Top images via Health Sciences Authority & Mothership