S'porean man, 24, trafficked Kpods & illicit drugs, gets 2 years' jail & 2 strokes of cane

A man who was caught with a disposable vaporiser in his car at the Woodlands Checkpoint was later discovered to be peddling Kpods and other drugs, including diazepam and cough syrup.

Basil Wang Zhuang Zhen, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking Kpods and was sentenced to two years’ jail and two strokes of the cane on Sep. 4.

According to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), Wang is the first person to be convicted and sentenced for Kpod trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).

He received the mandatory minimum sentence for the offence.

Rental vehicle searched at Woodlands Checkpoint

Court documents seen by Mothership stated that Wang was driving into Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint on Dec. 2, 2025, when his vehicle was stopped by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers for a search.

During the search, the ICA officers discovered a disposable vaporiser, and Wang was referred to HSA.

HSA officers later found evidence of peddling activities on Wang's phone, and he was escorted back to his house.

There, he admitted to the HSA officers that he was in possession of illegal products and that they were stored in a cabinet located just outside the flat, which was locked.

Officers eventually found a variety of cough syrup bottles, illicit medicines, and pods containing etomidate in the cabinet.

These included 2,800 tablets of codeine phosphate, 750 tablets of diazepam, 28 Kpods, and 104 bottles of cough syrup.

A search was conducted inside the flat, where the HSA officers found more vaporisers.

Wang admitted that all products seized from him were in his possession for the purpose of sale.

Telegram supplier

Sometime in November 2025, Wang purchased Kpods from an unknown supplier via Telegram for S$30 to S$40 each.

He had previously purchased Kpods on about five occasions and resold them.

After placing an order, Wang would collect the Kpods from couriers and pay for them in cash.

He similarly sold the Kpods to customers on a cash-on-delivery basis. After each transaction, Wang would delete all related communications on Telegram.

On Dec. 2, 2025, Wang communicated with a Telegram user to arrange a delivery of the Kpods at around 8pm that night as he was in Malaysia at the time.

However, he was apprehended before any sales could be completed.

Wang was arrested on Dec. 3, 2025, and charged in court the following day.