SINGAPORE: A doctor, who was among 49 men arrested during a police raid at a hotel in Sentosa, has been found guilty of consuming MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
Rayson Lee Rui Sheng, 36, was caught at a party held at a villa at the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa hotel in August 2023.
Lee and a 29-year-old acquaintance Tan Li Ming, were each convicted of one count of drug consumption on Tuesday (June 30).
Their urine and hair samples showed traces of MDMA and ketamine, the court heard.
The men had contested the charges, saying their drinks at the party were spiked.
But District Judge A Sangeetha noted that they continued taking more drinks despite their claims.
The judge found that the accounts the pair gave during the trial were not credible, and added that their hair samples had shown prior drug use.
“Neither man was a stranger to drug use,” the judge added.
The drugs were consumed at a villa at the hotel, that 49 men, aged between 21 and 46, attended on Aug 9, 2023.
Police, acting on information, conducted checks at the hotel shortly after 5.30am and found substances believed to be controlled drugs. The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) were then called to the scene.
During the operation, the authorities also found several substances suspected to be controlled drugs, including ecstasy and ketamine, as well as drug paraphernalia.
Deputy public prosecutors Jocelyn Teo and Dhiraj G Chainani said 49 party guests were arrested that morning.
Lee and Tan provided their hair and urine samples to the authorities.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) found traces of MDMA in their urine samples, while their hair samples showed they had consumed both ecstasy and ketamine.
The pair, who were represented by lawyer Tania Chin, did not dispute HSA’s findings but claimed their drinks were spiked.
There were also assertions that police had failed to seize some “plastic silver cups” that might have contained drug residue.
The DPPs said there was no credible evidence to back their claims, and added that the pair’s strategy during the trial was to present “hypothetical scenarios and unexplored possibilities”, including false claims that unidentified foreign nationals had mixed their drinks.
The DPPs said described the claims as distractions.
The prosecutors added: “Critically, they have produced no credible evidence identifying any specific individual who allegedly spiked their drinks.
“Even accepting their case at its highest – that cups, if seized, might have tested positive for drugs – this would merely confirm that they consumed drug-laced beverages, not that such consumption was unknowing.”
Many claims
Lee was at the villa to attend an acquaintance’s birthday party. He arrived at around 8pm on Aug 8, 2023, mingled with friends, and then left for a club in Clarke Quay where he was introduced to Tan.
The two men then went to the villa separately in the wee hours.
When he got there, Lee found that more people had turned up, including some he did not recognise. He said that while he was at the villa, he consumed three drinks strangers gave him.
Lee said he did not see pills or drug paraphernalia at the party, and did not see anyone consuming drugs.
Tan claimed he saw a group of four to five unknown men at a pantry area drawing liquid from a bottle with a syringe, and injecting the mixture into some plastic cups.
Tan said after he drank from a cup, he saw white residue at the bottom.
The DPPs said: “He then approached an unidentified person and asked what was being syringed into the drinks.
“That person told him it was ‘G-water’ that would give him a ‘drunk feeling’. (Tan) claimed that he did not know what ‘G-water’ was.”
During the trial, Lee said that he had “popped a pill”, given to him by a stranger, on two occasions while he was in Thailand in June 2023.
The prosecutors said Lee and Tan should have been able to provide at least some concrete details about the alleged perpetrators, if they had truly been victims of individuals who spiked drinks.
The prosecutors said that the pair had offered “only the most generic and unhelpful descriptions”, with vague physical characteristics that could apply to numerous individuals.
Chainani urged the court to sentence each man to up to a year and three months’ jail, arguing that they had shown a lack of remorse.
Their sentencing is slated for Aug 12. Meanwhile, the court has approved Tan’s application to go to Spain and France for work from July 5 to 26. - The Straits Times/ANN
