S'porean, 33, had passport impounded for vape offences, lied that he lost it to go to M'sia & take wedding photos

A 33-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to jail on Jul. 27 after he helped an illegal moneylending syndicate collect and deliver vapes.

He was trying to pay off his S$50,000 debt to the moneylender.

After his passport was impounded, he lied about having lost it as he wanted to travel to Malaysia to take wedding photos.

Melvin Wong Mun Hao pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to possess vapes and another charge of making a false statement in a passport application.

According to charge sheets seen by Mothership, Wong's offences were brought to light on Feb. 28, 2025.

Vapes

Investigations revealed that Wong would collect the vapes from one location, load them into a van, and deliver them to another location, The Straits Times reported.

On Feb. 28, 2025, Wong went to two locations on the moneylender's instructions: first at 23 Tagore Lane, and then at a multi-storey carpark in Boon Lay.

After the goods had been loaded onto his van, Wong was told to drive and make a delivery to Sungei Kadut.

He gave the delivery code to one of the workers in the building, but was detained.

Smoked out

Earlier, Customs officers had discovered about 5,000 vaporisers inside a trailer in the building.

Upon being questioned, the office manager of the company occupying the premises said she was unaware of the vapes.

The cartons were said to contain skincare medication, according to the shipment manifest.

The office manager contacted a person called "Bernard Lim" listed on the shipment manifest and informed him to collect the goods at the office, ST reported.

To that, Lim said he would send a delivery person to collect it.

Health Sciences Authority (HSA) officers conducted a controlled delivery operation at the premises, and Wong was promptly arrested.

Lied about passport

After being detained, his passport was impounded by HSA, and he was told that he could not leave the country.

He was then released while investigations for his vape offences were underway.

But on Mar. 7, 2025, Wong submitted an online application for a new passport, lying that he had lost his old one.

He wrote in his ICA application that he had "dropped [his] passport" and tried to find it, but failed.

He had apparently wanted to travel to Malaysia for a wedding photo shoot.

Court documents did not say how he was caught.

Penalties

Wong was sentenced to 24 weeks' jail for his offences.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said it takes a very serious view of people who provide false or misleading information or conceal material facts in their passport or travel document applications, ST reported.

"We will deal with them firmly. If convicted, he or she faces a fine not exceeding S$10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or both," ICA said.

An offender convicted of the possession of vapes for sale may fined up to S$10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.

He is expected to surrender himself at 12pm on Aug. 3 to begin serving his sentence.