Man charged with trafficking almost 2,000 etomidate vape pods; largest haul since Class C drug classification
Muhamad Khairuddin Abdullah was entering Singapore at Woodlands Checkpoint on Tuesday night when Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers found the e-vaporiser pods hidden in two boxes in the boot of his car.
Some of the e-vaporiser pods that were part of the haul. (Photo: Health Sciences Authority)
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SINGAPORE: A 30-year-old man was charged in court on Thursday (Jan 22) with trafficking nearly 2,000 etomidate e-vaporiser pods.
The seizure of the pods two days earlier was the biggest by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) since the classification of etomidate as a Class C controlled drug, HSA said in a media release on Thursday.
Muhamad Khairuddin Abdullah was entering Singapore at Woodlands Checkpoint on Tuesday night when Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers found 1,989 e-vaporiser pods hidden in two boxes in the boot of his car.
The officers detained Khairuddin, who was travelling in the rental car with his 63-year-old mother and four-month-old niece, and alerted HSA to the matter.
HSA seized the e-vaporiser pods and subsequently conducted a raid on the same day at Khairuddin's residence, where they found three regular e-vaporiser pods.
Laboratory tests later confirmed that the e-vaporiser pods seized at the checkpoint contained etomidate.
Investigations are ongoing, HSA said.
Khairuddin's case has been adjourned to Mar 5.
"HSA takes a serious view of e-vaporiser and etomidate trafficking offences. Since the enhanced penalties framework took effect on Sep 1, 2025, importers, sellers and distributors of etomidate e-vaporisers now face stiffer penalties," HSA said.
The penalties include three to 20 years' jail and five to 15 strokes of the cane for importers. Sellers and distributors may face two to 10 years' jail and two to five strokes of the cane.
