2 syndicate leaders jailed over roles in group that stored nearly 58,000 vape items in ‘warehouses’

SINGAPORE - Two syndicate leaders and the wife of one of them were jailed on Oct 5 over roles they played in a group that stored nearly 58,000 vape products in two “warehouses”.

One of the leaders, Wong Ee Wei, 29, who earned up to $280,000 while working in the syndicate, was sentenced to two years and a month in jail, and a fine of $100,000.

He will have to spend another four months behind bars should he fail to pay the fine.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to one count each of being a member of the syndicate and engaging in a conspiracy to possess more than 12,000 vaporisers at one of the “warehouses” – a rented terraced house in Lentor.

The second leader, Kenneth Tan Hong Chang, 31, had earned about $36,000 while he was part of the syndicate.

He was sentenced to three years and nine months’ jail on Oct 5.

He was also fined $36,000 and will be spending another five weeks behind bars should he fail to pay it.

Tan had pleaded guilty to being a member of the syndicate, and being in possession of more than 4,500 vaporisers at another “warehouse” - a condominium in the Canberra area in Sembawang.

He had also admitted to other unrelated offences including disturbing the public peace by fighting, and driving a car even though he was earlier disqualified from doing so.

For this traffic offence, he was sentenced to eight months’ jail, which was part of his total jail term.

He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 12 years from his release date.

The syndicate leaders had taken instructions from a person known only as “Nobody”, purportedly based in Malaysia.

They also managed the “warehouses” and also coordinated the deliveries of vape products from Malaysia as arranged by “Nobody”.

On Oct 5, Tan’s wife, Tiffany Lim Hui Peng, 30, who had rented the Canberra condominium unit and earned around $44,000 while she was part of the group, was sentenced to a year and six months’ jail.

She was also fined $44,000 and will have to spend another six weeks behind bars should she fail to pay the amount.

She had pleaded guilty to one count each of being a member of the syndicate and being in possession of 41 disposable vaporisers, 40 vaporiser cartridges and 600 heatsticks  – tobacco products that are heated instead of burned.

She also admitted she had allowed the crime group to use the condominium unit in their unlawful activities.

The court heard the group delivered up to 210 orders of vaporisers and components daily.

Three other men - Ng Tai Lun, 27, Adrian Chia Hong Qing, 33, and Tan Yi Tan, 36, who had also admitted to being part of the syndicate, were dealt with in court on Oct 1.

A seventh offender, Roy Tan Jun Jie, 34, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail and fined $45,000 on Aug 19.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.