SINGAPORE: To supplement his income, a bus driver accepted a job to deliver e-cigarette paraphernalia to Singapore.
He was caught red-handed on July 8, 2025, by officers at Woodlands Checkpoint, who had noticed anomalies in the luggage compartment of the bus.
Mahendran K.V.K. Samy, 32, was sentenced to three months and one week’s jail on Wednesday (Jan 7), after he pled guilty to one charge of importing the components of an imitation tobacco product.
Court documents stated that Mahendran, a Malaysian, was employed as a bus driver at a Malaysian transport company at the time of the offence.
His job was to ferry passengers between Malaysia and Singapore.
He earned about RM2,500 (S$790) a month, which was not enough to sustain him and his family.
Two weeks before he was apprehended, Mahendran received a call from a private number, offering him a job to deliver e-cigarette paraphernalia to Singapore. He was offered RM2,000 in cash for a successful delivery.
Despite having never met the person on the line, Mahendran agreed to take the job.
On July 6, 2025, he received a call from the unknown person, whom he called “Abang”. He was told to leave the bus and its keys unattended on the side of the road at a specified location in Johor Baru after he returned from dropping off passengers in Singapore.
At about 4.30am the next day, Mahendran did as he was told and gave Abang the bus registration number for easy identification.
At about 10am, he received a call from Abang informing him that the goods had been loaded onto the bus. He was instructed to smuggle the items into Singapore on July 8, 2025.
Once he cleared Singapore Customs, Abang would contact him with instructions on where to deliver the goods.
When Mahendran was crossing Woodlands Checkpoint at about 4.20pm on July 8, a search and examination officer directed his vehicle to be scanned.
“The accused seemed reluctant to open the luggage compartment of the bus and claimed that he did not (have) the key,” said Health Sciences Authority prosecutor Jolene Chia.
The officers looked into the luggage compartment from the other side of the bus and noticed brown cardboard-like material inside it. Mahendran then said he had the key and opened the compartment.
The cardboard boxes were found to contain 3,899 e-cigarette cartridges.
Chia sought a jail term of 20 weeks for Mahendran, citing the increased prevalence of vaping offences and the shift towards stiffer enforcement by the Government.
She also noted that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had announced during his National Day Rally speech on Aug 17, 2025, that the Government would be taking tougher action against vaping.
In mitigation, Mahendran, who was unrepresented, asked the judge for leniency as he was taking care of his mother and siblings.
He said: “I truly apologise for committing this offence, Your Honour.”
While meting out the sentence, District Judge Terrence Tay said vaping is an increasing problem in Singapore, especially affecting young people.
He added that stiff sentences are warranted as deterrence would be the main sentencing consideration.
For importing an imitation tobacco product, an offender can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both. - The Straits Times/ANN
