SINGAPORE, Sept 20 — A 31-year-old Singaporean man has been arrested for drug trafficking after his deportation from Thailand, Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) announced yesterday.
The man, identified by Thai media as Benny Kee Soon Chuan, was arrested by Thai authorities on Tuesday before being deported and handed over to CNB and is expected to face charges for drug trafficking offences today.
According to CNA, the man’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking came to light during CNB’s investigations into two separate drug trafficking cases in December 2020 and November 2022.
“The accused persons in those cases, two Singaporeans aged 21 and 29 at time of arrest, were charged for trafficking in substantial amounts of methamphetamine separately,” CNB stated.
The 21-year-old has since been sentenced to 22.5 years in prison with 15 strokes of the cane, while the 29-year-old was jailed for eight years and received seven strokes of the cane.
An arrest warrant had been issued for the 31-year-old man, who is suspected of supplying drugs to associates in Singapore.
However, immigration records showed that he had left Singapore on April 11, 2016.
CNB worked with its foreign counterparts to track down the suspect, who was eventually located by Thai authorities in a residence in Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok.
According to Thai media reports, he was “living in luxury” despite not having any reported employment or income.
Thai media reported that the man was involved in sending drugs such as Ice, ketamine and ecstasy from Thailand to Singapore and Australia via international mail.
The Bangkok Post reported that assets worth 15 million baht (RM1.9 million) were seized during his arrest, including Rolex watches, gold chains, rings, amulets and cash in various currencies.
The man is believed to have entered Thailand using a Vanuatu passport.
“We thank our Thai counterparts for the close cooperation and swift action to bring the suspect back to Singapore to face the law,” CNB acting director Leon Chan said.
Investigations into other members of the drug syndicate are ongoing.
