8kg of cocaine seized from foreign-registered commercial vessel in Singapore waters

SINGAPORE - Officers from the Police Coast Guard (PCG) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) seized more than 8kg of cocaine from a foreign-registered commercial vessel in Singapore waters on Aug 5.

In a statement on Aug 7, police said they were alerted to a case of suspicious packages on board a foreign-registered commercial vessel at the Raffles Reserved Anchorage, located south of the mainland, between Pulau Senang and Pulau Semakau.

PCG officers boarded the vessel and found eight packages believed to contain controlled drugs during a search. The packages were concealed in the sea chest strainers, which are heavy-duty marine filtration devices.

The packages tested positive for cocaine and were seized by CNB, police said.

The drugs were transiting through Singapore and were not meant for the local market, CNB’s preliminary investigations found.

Investigations are ongoing.

In Singapore, individuals who import or export more than 30g of cocaine may face the mandatory death penalty.