Repeat offender jailed for driving while high on etomidate, delivering vapes to clear debts

SINGAPORE - Just three months after being caught while driving under the influence of etomidate, a man was arrested again for the same offence.

This time, Jeremy Chua Beng Kai, 32, had a bag of Kpods in his car. These are vapes laced with etomidate.

On Sept 4, Chua was sentenced to two years and 15 months’ jail and two strokes of the cane, after pleading guilty to six charges.

They included the trafficking, possession, and consumption of Kpods, and driving while under the influence of etomidate.

Chua will also be disqualified from driving for five years after he is released from prison.

The court heard that Chua had accumulated debt from his credit card and cash line loans in August 2024, from online gambling.

His parents had also taken loans to help settle his debts. He delivered Kpods to pay off his debts in October 2025.

Stressed about his financial situation, he was using one Kpod every two days.

On Aug 17, 2025, Chua was driving his car along the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway towards the exit at Pasir Ris Industrial Drive 1.

He was driving slowly and swerving between lanes.

An off-duty police officer, who was driving in front of Chua, noticed this and stopped his car on the left side of the road.

Chua stopped behind the police officer, who noticed he appeared dazed with slurred speech. The off-duty officer called the police.

Officers found vapes in Chua’s car, and arrested him. His blood contained etomidate.

Between Oct 15 and 20, 2025, he made about 10 to 12 deliveries a day, earning $20 per delivery.

On Oct 20, 2025, Chua drove his car to Jurong to collect a bag of Kpods for delivery.

He had also smoked Kpods before driving.

The bag he collected contained 29 Kpods, and $1,610 in cash, which was payment for his deliveries.

The supplier told Chua to deliver the Kpods to a location in Sengkang.

After collecting the bag, Chua drove to Punggol to pass the cash to an unknown person to pay off his parents’ debt.

He then drove to his home in Punggol, but against the flow of traffic for about 10 to 15 metres. To avoid a collision, another driver was forced to apply his brakes.

Chua stopped his vehicle, and police officers found the bag of 29 Kpods and another two vaporisers in his car.

Etomidate was again found in his blood.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Ang sought a sentence of two years and 17 to 21 months’ jail, two strokes of the cane and four to five years’ driving disqualification.

Ang said Kpods present a risk to public health, noting that the authorities have caught 377 such offenders between January and March.

He added that offences which involve driving under the influence of etomidate are particularly dangerous, citing there were 38 traffic accidents linked to drug and etomidate use between 2023 and 2025.

Of these, 19 were fatal. Nine of these involved the use of etomidate.

Ang highlighted that Chua twice drove under the influence of etomidate.

Said Ang: “It is particularly aggravating that (on the second occasion) the accused drove after consuming Kpods despite having been released on bail for identical offences. (He also) drove for the purpose of trafficking Kpods.”

Chua is the fourth man hauled to court this week for driving while under the influence of etomidate.

On Sept 2, Muhammad Shafiq Razali was charged with several offences after he allegedly killed a 67-year-old woman in Geylang after driving while high on etomidate.

On Sept 3, Rayden Chong Shi An, 20, and Koh Chee Siong, 35, were handed charges for allegedly driving against the flow of traffic under the influence of etomidate.

For driving under the influence of drugs, an offender can be fined between $2,000 and $10,000, jailed for up to a year, or both.

For trafficking Kpods, an offender can be jailed for between two and 10 years, and given two to five strokes of the cane.