SINGAPORE – Twelve migrant workers in a Woodlands dormitory were arrested for suspected drug-related offences after a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) raid on Nov 27.
The men are aged between 23 and 40 years old. Eleven are Bangladeshis, while one is a Myanmar national.
CNB said on Nov 28 that a 34-year-old Bangladeshi man was arrested for suspected drug trafficking and drug consumption offences.
The four-hour operation involved officers from CNB, the Health Sciences Authority, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, Ministry of Manpower and the police.
The Straits Times was invited to witness the operation, which started with a briefing around 9pm on Nov 27 at CNB’s headquarters at Police Cantonment Complex.
Members of the media and CNB officers set off in unmarked vehicles to the dormitory.
As rain pelted down, officers entered the dormitory before midnight.
In one room, four migrant workers sat with their heads bowed and legs crossed, their hands cuffed behind their backs. They remained silent as officers searched their luggage and belongings.
A fifth worker in handcuffs was later taken to the room and questioned by officers as they sifted through his wardrobe.
The men’s valuables were packed into clear bags and taken with them as they were escorted out.
In another room, officers nabbed a sixth man. They found suspected drug utensils such as a glass bottle, cut straw and a rubber tube, and sealed them in an evidence bag.
