SINGAPORE \u2013 A man caught with over 4,300 vape pods worth around $22,000 was sentenced to a year and six months\u2019 jail on Nov 5.<\/p>\n
The sentence is the highest to date for the importation of non-etomidate vaporiser pods under the Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said.<\/p>\n
Syed Mohd Ridzuan Syed Yahya, 31, had admitted to importing the pods.<\/p>\n
After the Malaysian applied for jobs through a Facebook page in early June, an unidentified man with a Malaysian phone number offered him a job.<\/p>\n
Ridzuan travelled from Malacca to Johor Bahru to meet the man, whom he referred to as \u201cBoss\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoss\u201d then registered a vehicle in Ridzuan\u2019s name, arranged for the latter to reside in a rented house in Johor Bahru, and also procured a Malaysian SIM card for Ridzuan to use for communications involving the pod deliveries.<\/p>\n
Ridzuan\u2019s job was to drive the vehicle to transport vape pods to Singapore.<\/p>\n
For each successful trip, he stood to earn RM1,000 (S$316).<\/p>\n
According to Ridzuan, he was paid the amount for his first trip to Singapore on July 2, but not for three other trips later that month.<\/p>\n Syed Mohd Ridzuan Syed Yahya\u2019s job was to drive the vehicle to transport vape pods to Singapore.<\/p>\n PHOTO: HSA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n He was caught on July 10 by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers during enhanced checks at the Woodlands Checkpoint.<\/p>\n The officers found boxes of vaporiser pods concealed in the interior side panels of the vehicle.<\/p>\n The case was referred to the HSA, which seized the vehicle and the pods.<\/p>\n Ridzuan was charged soon after.<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>