Man jailed and caned for trafficking Kpods and illicit drugs

SINGAPORE – A man who was caught with a disposable vaporiser in his car was later discovered to be peddling Kpods and other drugs.

Basil Wang Zhuang Zhen, 24, was sentenced to two years’ jail and two strokes of the cane on Sept 4, after pleading guilty to one count of trafficking Kpods.

Wang is the first person to be convicted and sentenced for Kpod trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act. His sentence is the mandatory minimum for such offenders.

Court documents stated that Wang was driving into Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint on Dec 2, 2025, when his vehicle was stopped by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers for checks.

ICA officers found a vape in his car. Checks on Wang’s mobile phone revealed that he was also involved in drug peddling activities.

He was taken to his home by officers from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

He admitted that he had stored various illegal products in a locked cabinet outside his flat, but had lost the keys. After forcing open the cabinet, HSA officers found several illicit items in the first and third drawers.

These included 2,800 tablets of codeine phosphate, 750 tablets of diazepam, 28 Kpods, and several bottles of cough syrup.

More vaporisers were uncovered when HSA officers searched the flat. Wang admitted that all the items were for sale.

He purchased the Kpods from a supplier on Telegram for $30 to $40 and would sell them to his customers for $50 to $60.

He also advertised the other illicit medicine and cough syrup for sale on Telegram.

Wang was arrested on Dec 3, 2025, and charged in court the next day.

For trafficking Kpods, an offender can be jailed for two to 10 years and given two to five strokes of the cane.

In the first three months of 2026, the authorities caught 2,589 people for the possession and use of vaporisers, said the Ministry of Health and HSA.

Of those caught, 2,212 were regular vape offenders. The remaining 377 were arrested for offences involving etomidate vapes, which are also known as Kpods.

Another 256 vape offenders were placed on rehabilitation programmes in the first three months of 2026, taking the total number placed on such programmes to 520.