SINGAPORE: A man was caught with 1,050 etomidate-laced e-cigarette pods worth S$73,500 at the Woodlands Checkpoint, less than a year after he was fined for bringing e-cigarette devices into Singapore.
Ji Saow Hua, a 42-year-old Malaysian, was sentenced to 15 weeks’ jail on Thursday (Sept 3) after he pleaded guilty to importing the pods.
He had an undisclosed full-time job in Singapore at the time of the offence.
Both his offences were linked to a person named Louis Lee, although in different ways.
Court documents stated that in his first offence, Ji had helped Lee deliver e-cigarette devices on June 26, 2024. He rode a motorcycle to import 107 sets of the devices and 14 e-cigarette pods through the Woodlands Checkpoint.
He was caught and fined $4,000 later that year.
Health Sciences Authority prosecutor Jolene Chua told the court that to settle the fine, Ji borrowed RM15,000 (S$4,720) from an unlicensed moneylender in Malaysia.
Facing financial woes in January 2025, Ji reached out to Lee, who introduced him to another person called Louis Wong.
Wong then offered him a job to smuggle items such as e-cigarette devices into Singapore.
Ji hesitated but accepted the job in late June 2025 due to increased financial pressure, said the prosecutor.
On July 3, 2025, he received instructions from Wong to collect seven packages containing items such as e-cigarette devices from a staircase landing at a shophouse in Taman Pelangi, Johor.
As part of the plan, Ji had to smuggle the packages into Singapore before his work shift the next day.
He had to deliver the items to Yishun after his shift ended at 9pm that day.
Ji would receive details about the exact location after his shift ended, the court heard.
He was promised $300 for successful delivery. Court documents did not disclose what happened next.
The following day, Ji was riding his motorcycle through the Woodlands Checkpoint at around 7.45am when an auxiliary police officer stopped him for a routine check.
The officer found multiple packages wrapped in black plastic in the rear carriage box of the motorcycle. They contained the 1,050 e-cigarette pods.
Ji was charged in court in 2026. - The Straits Times/ANN
