S’porean woman, 28, facilitated smuggling & sale of puppies from M’sia into S’pore, given 19 weeks & 3 days’ jail & S$5,000 fine

A 28-year-old Singaporean woman was sentenced to 19 weeks and three days’ jail and fined S$5,000 after she facilitated the illegal smuggling of puppies into Singapore for sale on multiple occasions.

Ng Siew Teng faced 13 charges under the Animals and Birds Act.

She pleaded guilty to five charges and was sentenced on Aug. 5.

The rest of the charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Venture

In court documents seen by Mothership, in 2023, Ng and her husband, identified as Callurn Lim Yuan Jin, intended to bring in dogs from Malaysia to sell in Singapore.

Ng also had Lim’s friend, identified as Peh Jia Hao Bryan, help repost her TikTok stories advertising puppies for sale.

She instructed Lim that if interested buyers contacted him, he could quote a marked-up price, where the mark-up would be his commission.

In September 2023, the couple embarked on the venture and decided to bring in puppies from Malaysia to sell in Singapore to earn additional income.

The puppies were cheaper in Malaysia.

The couple started to look for puppy suppliers in Malaysia, and Ng eventually found a supplier through TikTok.

First batch

For the first batch of smuggled puppies, Ng purchased three golden retriever puppies at S$800 each from the supplier and collected them.

The puppies were kept in a plastic container, which was then placed in the boot of their car.

Ng then entered Singapore separately before Lim drove back to Singapore with the puppies.

The couple was aware that smuggling puppies was illegal and Lim did not want Ng to be implicated if he was caught.

After the puppies were smuggled in, Ng decided that none of the puppies was suitable for her as a pet.

She then decided to advertise the puppies for sale online through her Instagram account, created to market and sell the animals.

They sold the three puppies at about S$2,500 each and earned a profit of S$5,100.

The couple continued this illicit venture as they observed a high profit yield from the sales and were motivated by the financial gain.

Modus operandi

In October 2023, Lim approached Peh and asked him if he was interested in bringing in puppies from Malaysia.

Lim told Peh that he would pay him a fee of between S$250 and S$300 per animal depending on its size.

Peh agreed to the arrangement.

The modus operandi for the importations was similar in nature, where Ng would contact Malaysian sellers to check for availability of puppies before placing orders at an agreed price.

She would then confirm the delivery arrangements of the puppies to a rental apartment in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Lim would then inform Peh to meet him at the apartment.

The supplier would then hand over the puppies to Lim, who would then hand over the animals to Peh.

The animals would be placed into a plastic storage container, which Ng purchased, in the trunk of the vehicle driven by Peh.

The trio would then leave the rental apartment separately and head to Singapore.

Peh would then be instructed to meet up with the couple in their residence in Singapore after entering the country.

The puppies would then be handed to them at a garbage collection point.

Peh carried out several importations for the couple in October 2023 using the same modus operandi.

For each successful smuggling, he would be paid between S$250 and S$300 per animal.

Five puppies

On Dec. 26, 2023, Ng was contacted by the Malaysian seller to arrange for the delivery of five puppies from Malaysia into Singapore.

The Malaysian seller would pay S$800 to Ng for each puppy that she imported.

On the same day, Lim contacted Peh, who was already in Malaysia on the previous day for a social purpose, asking for his assistance to smuggle the five puppies along with duty-unpaid cigarettes.

The puppies and the cigarettes were intended to be delivered to the couple at their Singapore-registered address once Peh entered Singapore.

Both men agreed on a total delivery fee of S$1,650: S$400 for the importation of cigarettes and S$250 for the importation of each animal.

On the same day, an unknown Malaysian man delivered a German Shepherd dog to the rented apartment.

The initial plan was for the animal to be smuggled via Peh’s vehicle, and the couple would be paid S$1,000 if the importation was successful.

As the animal was too active, Lim decided that he should be importing it instead of Peh.

Peh would then import five other puppies.

The smuggling plan was later aborted as the animal was deemed too active, and it was returned to the Malaysian seller.

On Dec. 27, 2023, at about 2am, Peh and Lim met up despite having agreed to meet up earlier at 10pm on Dec. 26, 2023.

Ng, together with Lim, was also present at the rental apartment to receive the puppies and await Peh’s arrival.

An unknown Malaysian man then arrived with the five Pomeranian puppies in a black cage and handed the animals to the trio.

They then loaded the animals into the vehicle.

Two of the animals were placed in a pet carrier while the other animals were placed into a plastic storage container lined with some towels.

Ng then left for Singapore with a friend, leaving behind Lim and Peh.

However, she returned to Malaysia soon after being informed by Lim that the German Shepherd would be returned to the Malaysian seller.

Ng then returned to Singapore with Lim to wait for Peh to arrive with the puppies.

Investigations revealed that Ng initially returned to Singapore with a friend as she would not ride in a vehicle carrying any illicitly imported animals.

At about 5:05am, Peh was about to enter Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint when he was stopped by an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer for a random check.

Sales

During the couple’s stint between October and December 2023, they would keep the illicitly imported puppies in their residence located at Hougang,

They would also hold viewings of the animals at the void deck of their residence for prospective customers.

When a puppy is sold through the Instagram account, the customer would then collect the animal from the couple.

Ng sold 21 puppies through the platform and earned profits of about S$21,000.

She made S$1,000 in profit for each puppy sold.

Unnecessary suffering

According to an Animal Health and Welfare Assessment Report, the animals experienced unnecessary suffering, which would be exacerbated by their young age.

The plastic storage container used to transport the puppies did not meet regulations.

The animals placed in the container would have their movements restricted and would not be able to adopt their natural positions.

There was insufficient ventilation from the manner in which they were stored, and the situation was exacerbated by the cramped conditions.

All the puppies also tested positive for canine parvovirus.

These viruses typically cause anorexia, lethargy, vomiting and diarrhoea, resulting in rapid dehydration, sepsis and ultimately, death.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, Peh pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail.

Lim's case is still pending.