212 vapes disguised as detergent powder at Woodlands Checkpoint, S'porean driver arrested

The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) discovered and busted an attempt to smuggle e-vaporisers into Singapore at Woodlands Checkpoint on Feb. 6.

ICA officers at the checkpoint received information from its Integrated Targeting Centre (ITC) that prompted them to conduct enhanced checks on a Singapore-registered car.

They found two packages labelled as laundry detergent powder in the car boot, which actually contained two vapes and 210 vape pods.

The Singapore driver of the car, a 39-year-old man, has been arrested, the ICA said in a Facebook post on Feb. 16.

The case has been referred to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for further investigation.

Vape smuggling

In 2025, joint operations by the ICA, HSA, and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) detected a total of 59 large-scale smuggling cases with the help of foreign intelligence, the Ministry of Health said on Feb. 3.

The authorities seized around 230,000 vapes and related products from these cases.

Since Sep. 1, 2025, importers, sellers and distributors of vapes laced with etomidate face stronger penalties.

Importers will be jailed between three and 20 years, and get between five and 15 strokes of the cane.

Sellers and distributors will get two and 10 years' imprisonment, and between two and five strokes of the cane.

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Top images from ICA's Facebook