SINGAPORE \u2013 Facing financial woes, a lorry driver for a logistics company in Malaysia asked his superior for a loan and was told that he could deliver \u201cillegal items\u201d to Singapore in exchange for payment.<\/p>\n
Jegathiswaran Nagalingam accepted the offer even though his superior, known only as \u201cDavid\u201d, refused to give him more information about the goods he was to transport. <\/p>\n
At around 5.30am on Feb 2, the 28-year-old drove a lorry to the Tuas Checkpoint, where, following a vehicle search, the Singapore authorities uncovered around 37,000 illicit items, including e-cigarette devices, worth nearly $277,000 in total.<\/p>\n
On April 16, the Malaysian offender was sentenced to 22 weeks\u2019 jail after he pleaded guilty to importing items, including 14,700 e-cigarette pods.<\/p>\n
Two other charges, including those involving \u201cheatsticks\u201d \u2013 tobacco products that are heated rather than burned \u2013 were considered during his sentencing.<\/p>\n
Health Sciences Authority prosecutor Jolene Chia told the court that Jegathiswaran had earlier approached David and asked for a RM5,000 (S$1,600) loan.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cDavid suggested that the accused assist in delivering illegal items into Singapore in exchange for payment. The illegal items would be concealed among the company\u2019s legitimate delivery items.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accused did not know how much he would be paid for the job, only that he stood to be paid when he successfully delivered the items… This would be the first time the accused had knowingly imported something illegal into Singapore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jegathiswaran accepted the offer and picked up a lorry from the company\u2019s compound in Malaysia at or around 4am on Feb 2.<\/p>\n
He did not check what was in it and was caught after officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority inspected it later that morning.<\/p>\n
On April 16, the prosecutor urged the court to sentence Jegathiswaran to up to 22 weeks\u2019 jail, stressing that his offences involved a large number of illicit items. She added that the quantity of such goods reflected the scale of the offences.<\/p>\n
Jegathiswaran, who was not represented by a lawyer, told the court through a Tamil language interpreter that he was facing financial issues at the time and that he was his family\u2019s sole breadwinner.<\/p>\n
He also said his father is visually impaired and his mother, who has difficulty walking, has to go for knee surgery.<\/p>\n
Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Lim Tse Haw agreed with the prosecutor that the case involved a large number of illicit products. He also said that there was a need to deter foreigners from smuggling such goods into Singapore.<\/p>\n