Man who manufactured Kpods for sale at Yishun home pleads guilty, sentencing adjourned

SINGAPORE: A man who manufactured illicit e-vaporiser pods containing etomidate, or Kpods, and sold them from his home at Yishun, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Aug 13).

Mohammed Akil Abdul Rahim, 41, was caught after a deliveryman who had collected a package from outside the accused's Yishun unit on Dec 11, 2024, found vape pods in the parcel. The deliveryman went straight to the police and handed the items over. 

The authorities searched the flat at Yishun Street 22 later that day and found hundreds of similar paraphernalia, such as empty pod casings, pod covers, and loose vape pods. Enough etomidate powder to fill around 72 vape pods was also found. 

Mohammed Akil's case is the first prosecution for e-vaporisers containing etomidate, a Health Sciences Authority (HSA) prosecutor said. 

Etomidate is a fast-acting anaesthetic used in medical procedures. It is listed as a poison, and its sale is regulated. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said last month that Singapore is working to list etomidate as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act. 

Etomidate is used intravenously for general anaesthesia. It is not approved for use via inhalation.

Adverse effects of etomidate include nausea and vomiting, uncontrollable movement or spasm of muscles, changes to breathing and blood pressure, and seizures and psychosis that can endanger health. 

From Jan 1 to Jun 30 this year, the HSA caught 35 cases of smuggling and peddling of e-vaporisers from Malaysia. Out of these, 18 were confirmed to contain etomidate, with the number of Kpods per case ranging from eight to 4,535.

HSA also found that about one-third of randomly sampled e-vaporisers confiscated from members of the public tested positive for etomidate, in a study conducted from March to July. 

ACCUSED'S CHARGES

Mohammed Akil on Wednesday pleaded guilty to one count of possessing for sale 100 loose e-vaporiser pods, one count of possessing for sale 569 empty pod casings, 534 pieces of pod components, and 1,485 pod covers, as well as one count of possessing for sale 26.4g of white powder which contained etomidate.

Another four counts of a similar nature will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced.

Separately, he also pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in an application for a new passport. 

This was after his passport had been impounded by the authorities pending investigations against him.

Mohammed Akil lied to obtain a new passport to visit his girlfriend in Malaysia and to settle some banking matters, the court heard.

He submitted an online report about a lost passport to the ICA, declaring in the form that he had left his bag containing his IC and passport at a coffee shop. While the IC was returned, he claimed that his passport and other belongings were not. 

He was issued with a new passport, which he used to travel overseas on multiple occasions. He was arrested at the departure bus hall at Woodlands Checkpoint in June and remanded.

ACCUSED OFFERED JOB OF PREPARING KPODS

The court heard that Mohammed Akil claimed to have met a person known as Joe in October 2024 while at a mall in Johor Bahru. As Mohammed Akil needed money, Joe offered him a job to prepare Kpods pods for customers in Singapore. 

He arranged for the necessary paraphernalia to be sent to Mohammed Akil's home. To prepare the pods, Mohammed Akil would mix e-liquid with etomidate powder and use a syringe to inject the mixture into the empty pod casings. 

Joe would provide Mohammed Akil's number to potential customers, who would then contact him directly to order the vape pods. Mohammed Akil was paid S$10 (US$7.80) for each pod he prepared and sold. 

"The accused agreed with this arrangement even though he knew vape products were illegal in Singapore," HSA prosecutor Yang Ziliang said. 

He had prepared 100 pods and placed them in a paper bag for a customer on Dec 11, 2024. He left the bag, which also contained two boxes of vaporiser box sets without pods, outside his unit and asked the customer to send someone to collect it. This was the bag that was picked by the deliveryman, who was supposed to send it to Sin Ming Drive. 

That was the second order he sent out, with the first order also for 100 pods. The pods in both orders contained etomidate.

Upon searching his home at about 5.30am on Dec 11, 2024, HSA officers found a bag of white powder weighing 26.4g, which contained etomidate.

When asked about the powder, Mohammed Akil said he was taught by Joe to mix a certain amount of etomidate with e-liquid, then inject about 1.5ml of the solution into each vape pod.

SENTENCING ARGUMENTS

Mr Yang sought 12 to 15 months' jail while ICA prosecutor Boo Zhi Ying asked for six to eight weeks' jail for the charge involving the passport. 

Noting that there were no precedents under the Poisons Act for etomidate, Mr Yang argued for a new approach to sentencing. 

"Despite the greater education efforts and increased sentences imposed by the courts, the situation has not improved and has even worsened with these dangerous etomidate-laced e-vaporisers," he said. 

"A new approach to sentencing is thus required to fully address the danger and harm inherent in the present offences."

He noted the increased prevalence of etomidate in the e-vaporisers seized, and added that etomidate has been found in biological samples from death cases.

From January 2024 to May 2025, the HSA found etomidate in the biological samples of 21 unnatural death cases, which could have contributed to the deaths - 10 of which were due to falls from height, while five were due to road traffic accidents. Of the 21 cases, eight involved those aged under 30. 

The prosecutor also raised prominent examples of youths abusing etomidate, including a 13-year-old girl who was seen vaping outside the State Courts in April. 

"This trend of youths using these etomidate-laced vapes is extremely worrying and needs to be arrested by choking off the supply," Mr Yang said. 

"The effects of such etomidate vapes are quite obvious and distinctive. Videos abound on social media of 'zombies' - vapers suspected of using etomidate e-vaporisers - stumbling around unsteadily or shaking uncontrollably."

Mr Yang said jail was warranted in Mohammed Akil's case. 

"If these 100 etomidate-laced pods had been distributed further to 100 persons, who knows how many 'zombies' might result," he said. 

In closing, he noted that a strong signal had to be sent to offenders who manufacture, import, sell or offer to sell such etomidate-laced vapes. 

"In fact, once etomidate is listed as a Class C controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, the sentences that can be imposed for trafficking will include mandatory minimum imprisonment terms as well as caning.

"The sellers must understand that dealing with such vapes will land you in jail, just as consuming such vapes will seriously harm your health."

MITIGATION

Speaking via videolink, Mohammed Akil, who was unrepresented, said he regretted the offences. 

"This is all due to my mental pressure and also financial devastation. I know this thing is really really wrong ... (it was) for the sake of just putting food on the table for my kids at that point in time," he said. 

He told the court that he used to own a business where he was the main contractor for a "big local logistics company" with a high income. 

"Only that this downfall really slapped me hard," he said. 

"I really regret my actions. I stayed crime-free for almost a decade since my last major incarceration for drug offences," he added.

Mohammed Akil has been previously sent to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre for consuming methamphetamine, and has been convicted of disorderly behaviour, among other offences. 

Asking for compassion and leniency, Mohammed Akil said he wanted to complete the sentence "fast" and "get back to" his life to focus on his two young children. 

"A lengthy sentence will not be fair to them because I am the one (committing) the wrong and they are the ones feeling the effect of this," he said.  

His sentencing has been adjourned to Aug 26. 

For selling a poison without a licence, Mohammed Akil could have been jailed for up to two years, or fined up to S$10,000, or both. 

For possessing for sale imitation tobacco products, he can be jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both, on a first conviction. 

For making a false statement in connection with an application for a new passport, he can be jailed up to 10 years, or fined up to S$10,000, or both.