3 men charged over plan to break into HSA warehouse and steal seized vapes

SINGAPORE — Three men were charged in court on Thursday (March 28) over a scheme to break into a Health Sciences Authority (HSA) warehouse unit in Woodlands and steal seized e-vaporisers and other related items stored inside.

The three men are: Chee Wai Yuen, 35, Elvin Suriaganandhan, 22, and Lim Zhi Wei, 38.  

Chee, a Malaysian, is accused of surveying the warehouse’s premises to commit theft on March 23, after allegedly engaging in a conspiracy with a person called “Ming” to break into the unit.

Court documents stated that Suriaganandhan and Lim, who are both Singaporeans, had also surveyed the same premises on March 26. 

All three were charged on Thursday with abetment of housebreaking. 

TODAY understands that “Ming” was responsible for contacting Lim and Chee separately. Police investigations into this person are ongoing.

A separate statement by the police and HSA on Wednesday stated that the police had arrested the three men and a 21-year-old woman for their suspected involvement in the scheme.

On March 23, Chee was detained by the HSA after he was found loitering near the warehouse unit containing the seized items. 

The police were called and Chee was arrested for drug-related offences. Investigations later revealed that he was allegedly involved in discussing a plan to remove the seized items, and had obtained harnesses and ropes to carry it out. The equipment was seized by the authorities.

Three days later, HSA alerted the police again when Suriaganandhan and Lim were spotted loitering near the warehouse unit. Police and HSA officers located and detained both men.

According to the statement, Lim had allegedly been offered a sum of money to remove the seized items from the warehouse, and he recruited Suriaganandhan for this purpose. 

The woman had accompanied them when they went to survey the unit and all three were arrested. 

Police investigations against the woman are ongoing. 

Lim and Suriaganandhan are out on bail of S$15,000 each and will have their cases heard in court again on April 25. Chee has been remanded for further investigations and will return to court on April 4.

Anyone convicted of abetting housebreaking can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.