Lawyer pleads guilty to consuming meth, buying drugs from Malaysia after he was caught at Woodlands Checkpoint

SINGAPORE: A lawyer who was nabbed at Woodlands Checkpoint with methamphetamine and other drugs he bought from Malaysia for a friend pleaded guilty on Monday (Aug 17) to several drug offences.

Mark Tan Teik Yu, 42, had been set to claim trial, but pleaded guilty to five drug offences on Monday: For consuming meth as well as for possessing different amounts of meth, 100 nimetazepam tablets and utensils for drug consumption.

The court heard that Tan, 42, was a qualified lawyer at the time of the offences. He was returning to Singapore from Malaysia on the night of Mar 17, 2018, when he was stopped at Woodlands Checkpoint by an AETOS officer.

The officer searched Tan's car and found a grey pouch behind the driver's seat with a glass tube and improvised glass apparatus commonly used to consume meth.

An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer was informed and a further search of the car was conducted, uncovering more drug utensils and two packets containing at least 8.78g of meth in total.

Tan admitted possessing the utensils and said he had used them to consume meth.

The officer also found a red packet with 10 packages containing 10 tablets each of nimetazepam, also known as Erimin-5, a Class C controlled drug.

Investigations revealed that Tan's friend, identified as Iman Hakiki Azhari, had contacted him while he was in Malaysia.

The pair had known each other since 2010, and occasionally consumed meth and nimetazepam together since 2012.

Iman asked Tan to help him buy a box of Erimin-5 and deliver it to him. Tan agreed to do so for S$750, which covered the cost of the drugs and his transport costs.

He bought the drugs from a person known only as DC in Malaysia and placed them in the back compartment of his car, intending to deliver them to Iman for his personal consumption.

After Tan was arrested, he was taken to the Central Narcotics Bureau office, where his urine samples were tested and shown to contain meth.

He admitted taking meth at DC's place in Malaysia, saying he did so to "feel alert and awake, thus allowing him to drive back to Singapore".

A raid of his house uncovered another packet containing at least 4.39g of meth.

Tan was represented by lawyer Peter Keith Fernando, and will return to court for mitigation and sentencing on Oct 2.

According to his LinkedIn page, which has since been taken down, Tan was a managing director at his own law firm, and previously a partner at firms Allen & Gledhill and Dentons Rodyk.

When contacted by CNA on the case, a spokesperson for the Law Society said: "We do not have all the facts of the case as yet. We will determine our appropriate course of action (if any) once we have all necessary information and have considered the matter."

For each charge of possessing a Class C or Class A controlled drug, as well as for consuming meth, Tan can be jailed for up to 10 years' jail, fined up to S$20,000, or both.

He can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both for possessing drug utensils.