Singaporean fugitive charged with abetting drug trafficking after Bangkok arrest
Tan Leng Chong, 50, appeared in a Singapore district court on 10 July 2025.
He had been handed over to Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) by Thai authorities the day before.
Tan was apprehended on 5 July 2025 during a raid by Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) at a hotel in Bangkok.
The operation came after an extensive investigation and cross-border cooperation.
According to the charge sheet, Tan is accused of conspiring with N M Mahendran to traffic cannabis mixture outside Singapore sometime before July 2024.
Cannabis is classified as a Class A Controlled Drug under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act.
Mahendran allegedly possessed five blocks of vegetable matter containing no less than 4,990.6g of cannabis mixture for trafficking.
The incident reportedly took place around 29 July 2024 at Equatorial Apartments, located at 48 Meyer Road.
Tan, wearing a white polo tee, appeared in court via video-link for a brief hearing. He did not speak much during the proceedings.
The prosecution requested that he remain in remand, with permission for officers to take him out for further investigations.
'Custody is required to trace the source of drugs in the capital charge,' the prosecutor told the court.
Tan acknowledged the proceedings and confirmed that he understood the charges. He is scheduled to return to court on 17 July 2025.
If found guilty of abetting drug trafficking, Tan could face the death penalty under Singapore law.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, CNB said it discovered Tan's suspected role while probing a related drug trafficking case in July 2024.
That investigation involved another Singaporean, aged 64, who was charged with trafficking about 4.99kg of cannabis mixture.
During its probe, CNB found that Tan had left Singapore in July 2023.
Authorities subsequently reached out to international counterparts, leading to an arrest warrant and his eventual apprehension in Thailand.
CNB revealed it has also begun investigating Tan for alleged money laundering offences. Accounts believed to be linked to Tan have been frozen, holding more than S$242,000.
Thailand's ONCB stated via Facebook on Tuesday that Tan was arrested for allegedly trafficking drugs from Thailand into Singapore.
According to Phanurat Lakboon, Secretary-General of the ONCB, Tan was found hiding in Pattaya, Chonburi province, as reported by Bangkok Post.
Thai government news outlet NBT Connext reported that Tan had used Thailand both as a hiding place and an operational base for drug trafficking.
ONCB said Tan was seen in Bangkok meeting two Indonesian nationals at a hotel.
These individuals were believed to be involved in the drug smuggling operations.
Thai police raided the hotel room and arrested all three men. Authorities seized illegal substances including ecstasy, ketamine, and Erimin-5, a prescription-only depressant derivative from the benzodiazepine group.
Tan remains in remand as investigations continue. He will appear in court again on 17 July 2025.
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