SINGAPORE: An HDB cleaner shockingly discovered over a hundred e-cigarettes hidden in suitcases and plastic bags in a public housing electrical room while cleaning. After learning about the items, he immediately sought help from a newsstand owner to call the police.
A 70-year-old newspaper vendor at a Tampines Street block told Shin Min Daily News that he sets up his stall nearby at around 2 a.m. daily. On one Tuesday morning, the cleaner approached him to report the e-cigarettes.
According to the cleaner, this was not the first time such a thing had happened. In his recent experience, he had found a bag of e-cigarettes while cleaning nearby and had decided to throw it away.
The newsstand owner checked the electrical room and found a black suitcase and a plastic bag containing the items. “I then loaded the items onto my bicycle, took them to my newsstand, and immediately notified the police,” he said.
As seen in a video, there were eight boxes inside the suitcase, each containing ten e-cigarettes. The total number of e-cigarettes hidden was believed to be more than one hundred, including the two boxes inside the plastic bag.
Police arrived, seized the e-cigarettes, and left. The vendor, alarmed by the cleaner’s claim of prior incidents, feared local criminals or dealers targeting youths.
He hoped that authorities would investigate the matter further.
Electronic vaporisers—commonly known as e-cigarettes, e-vaporisers, or vapes—are devices that heat a liquid to produce an inhalable vapour. They have gained widespread popularity as an alternative to traditional cigarettes, offering a variety of styles and flavours that particularly appeal to young people.
In Singapore, penalties for e-cigarette use have been stepped up. A first offence costs $500 for those under 18 and $700 for adults 18 and above.
A second offence requires the offender to complete a three-month rehabilitation programme. From the third offence onward, culprits face prosecution and fines of up to $2,000 under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act (TCASA). /TISG
