Pubdate: Sun, 08 Oct 2000
Source: Straits Times (Singapore)
Copyright: 2000 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
Contact:  Forum Editor, 390 Kim Seng Road Singapore 239495
Fax: 733-2690
Website: http://straitstimes.asia1.com/

FIRST KNOWN SRI LANKAN DRUG RING HERE BUSTED

IMMIGRATION and anti-narcotics officers have smashed the first Sri Lankan 
drug syndicate known to operate here.

The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and Singapore Immigration and 
Registration (SIR) netted four suspected drug traffickers and 12 others 
suspected to be immigration offenders.

In this joint swoop on Friday, Operation Twin Peaks, they also seized 
nearly 3 kg of cannabis worth an estimated $40,000 on the street.

On Wednesday, the SIR told the CNB that a foreign drug syndicate was 
looking for buyers. The ring was found to be operating out of hotels in 
Geylang, at Lorong 18 and Lorong 22.

On Thursday, CNB officers identified a 37-year-old Indian national as a key 
member of the syndicate.

Officers trailing him noted that he worked as a driver and ferried other 
foreign workers around the island.

Later that night, they saw him enter a room in a hotel at Lorong 22.

SIR and CNB officers raided the room on Friday afternoon and found 13 
packets of cannabis.

They arrested the Indian national and the three foreigners with him, who 
all turned out to be from Sri Lanka. The two Sri Lankan men were 25 and 26 
years old, and the woman was 31.

CNB deputy director Muhammad Azni Sarbini said yesterday that the 
26-year-old had a valid student pass and claimed he was a student at a 
polytechnic here. The other Sri Lankan man's visit pass had expired. He and 
the woman are unemployed. Twelve other foreigners, four of them Sri Lankan 
women, were arrested in a separate raid at a Lorong 18 hotel the same day.

The 12 were seen associating with the four suspected drug syndicate 
members, visiting each other's rooms and going out together, said Mr 
Muhammad Azni.

Six of the eight men in this group were Sri Lankan nationals. The other two 
were from India.

He added that five of the 12 had overstayed. Another one had actually been 
barred from entering Singapore. The 12 are being investigated for 
immigration offences.

None of the 16 arrested tested positive for drug use.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens