Bruce McPherson

SINGAPORE: Four Singaporeans have been arrested after the authorities seized a drone carrying drugs at Kranji Reservoir Park, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in a joint news release on Saturday (Jun 20). 

According to the release, the police detected "unusual unmanned aircraft activity" in the vicinity of the park at about 5.45pm on Wednesday. 

Officers from the Woodlands Police Division were dispatched to investigate and they observed a drone, with a bag attached to it, hovering in the air. 

The police subsequently found and arrested two men, aged 29 and 34, believed to be operating the drone. The drone and a black bag attached to it were retrieved. 

Investigations showed the bag contained substances suspected to be controlled drugs - about 278g of Ice. CNB officers searched one of the men's car parked in the area and found an assortment of controlled drugs - about 35g of Ice, 8g of heroin and 195 Ecstasy tablets. 

"The two men were suspected to have operated the unmanned aircraft from Singapore, to import drugs from Malaysia. The flight data retrieved from one of the suspects' phone showed that the unmanned aircraft had flown from Kranji to Johor Bahru and back again to Kranji that day," the release stated. 

Both men were charged on Friday with trafficking Class A controlled drugs.

TWO MORE ARRESTED

A follow-up operation on Jun 18 led to the arrest of another man and a woman. The 24-year-old woman, a suspected drug abuser, was arrested in the vicinity of a private housing estate at Marne Road. The 40-year-old man, a suspected drug abuser, was arrested shortly after in a unit within the housing estate. 

As the man "refused to heed the lawful orders of the CNB officers to open the door", forced entry was effected, the release said. A total of about 76g of Ice, a small amount of heroin, two Erimin-5 tablets and cash amounting to S$13,230 were found in the unit. 

The total value of the drugs seized in both operations is estimated to be at least S$44,000.

The 389g of Ice seized in total is enough to feed the addiction of about 220 drug abusers for one week, the authorities said.

Investigations are ongoing.