Singapore doctor, male acquaintance get 1-year jail terms for consuming Ecstasy at Sentosa hotel

SINGAPORE: On Wednesday (Aug 12), two men received a one-year jail sentence in connection with a raid during a birthday party that was held at a hotel on Sentosa island in 2023. The authorities discovered at the time that the two men, one of whom is a physician, had consumed drugs.

However, 36-year-old Dr Rayson Lee Rui Sheng and 29-year-old Tan Li Ming are planning on appealing against their convictions, having earlier claimed that the drinks they had been given were spiked with drugs.

MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy, as well as ketamine, was found in the hair and urine samples taken from the men at the time of their arrest. The maximum jail sentence for consuming Ecstasy is 10 years, and those who are convicted face fines of as much as S$20,000.

The judge on the case, however, said there were inconsistencies in the narratives the men told, according to reporting from CNA.

The backstory

On August 8, 2023, Lee and Tan were invited to a birthday party at a villa at Sofitel Singapore Sentosa hotel. Though the celebration began that night, it lasted until the next morning. 

After receiving a tip-off that drugs were being used at the party, police officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau raided the villa at around 5:40 a.m., which resulted in the arrest of Lee, Tan, and several other party attendees.

According to the two defendants, unbeknownst to them, their drinks had been laced with MDMA. One of the witnesses during their trial claimed to have seen a foreign national crushing an Ecstasy pill and placing the powder into a cup, which was then passed around and consumed by partygoers. Another witness said an American offered him drugs that night.

However, while District Judge A Sangeetha said that this may have attested to the presence of drugs that night, the testimonies of the two witnesses said nothing about Lee and Tan’s activities.

Moreover, she also pointed out that while Lee and Tan already suspected their drinks had been spiked, they continued to go on drinking, and said that she did not find their accounts from that night to be credible as there were inconsistencies in their statements.

Lee, for example, had said he felt euphoric and light-headed after the first drink, and added that it was similar to how he felt after having taken drugs in Thailand. However, he went on to take two more drinks.

Tan, meanwhile, claimed to have seen other partygoers placing substances into the drinks for guests on a table, and added that he saw a white residue in pneumonia pop the cups. The judge pointed out that despite suspicions of the drinks being spiked, he drank from the cup anyway. /TISG

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