SINGAPORE: More than 850 vapes and related components were surrendered to Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers over five days of stepped-up checks by the agency.
Between Monday (Aug 18) and Friday, ICA ramped up efforts to detect and deter attempts to smuggle vapes into Singapore across air, land and sea checkpoints, the authority said on Saturday.
This included placing bright red vape bins more prominently for travellers to spot, and deploying additional officers for more checks. ICA did not specify a figure for the increased manpower.
A total of 184 vape cases were detected during this period.
ICA’s increased security comes as Singapore authorities move to clamp down on vaping.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in his National Day Rally speech last Sunday that the country will step up enforcement and treat vaping as a “drug issue”, with stiffer penalties for sellers of vapes with harmful substances.
At present, those caught for the purchase, use and possession of vapes are referred to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and may be fined up to S$2,000 (US$1,550).
It is also an offence to import, distribute, sell or offer for sale vapes and their components.
Kpods, which are vapes laced with etomidate, have also been making headlines recently. Etomidate is a fast-acting anaesthetic which can be dangerous when used outside a controlled medical environment.
Singapore is working to list etomidate as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
