Man caught with $870k worth of Kpods among 5 charged with alleged trafficking of vaporisers
Five men have been charged with allegedly trafficking etomidate vaporiser pods, also known as Kpods, into Singapore, with one man allegedly caught with more than 12,000 pods worth $870,000, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said on Friday (Sept 4). This is the largest seizure of Kpods thus far, the authority said.Lee Chiun Yong, 36, and Kalaiarasu Krishinan, 30, were charged on Aug 25 and Aug 27 respectively, while Jerome Wee Chuan Kai, 26, Tan Si Yuan, 37, and Tiong Hin Yang, 24, were charged on Aug 28. Lee, Kalaiarasu and Tiong were linked to three separate cases, while Wee and Tan were linked to a case related to an enforcement operation in Geylang. Lee was driving into Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint on Aug 23 and was directed for checks by ICA officers, who found three black bags containing packets of vaporiser pods in his vehicle's rear boot. HSA officers were alerted and a total of 12,415 vaporiser pods were seized and later confirmed to contain etomidate.