SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man wanted for drug trafficking has been arrested following his deportation from Thailand, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said on Thursday (Sep 19). The 31-year-old was arrested by Thai authorities on Tuesday, and subsequently deported and handed over to CNB. Multiple Thai media reports identifed the suspect as Benny Kee Soon Chuan.
He will be charged on Friday with drug trafficking offences. The man’s suspected links to drug trafficking was uncovered over the course of CNB’s investigations into two other drug trafficking cases in December 2020 and November 2022. “The accused persons in those cases, two Singaporeans aged 21 and 29 at time of arrest, were charged for trafficking in substantial amounts of methamphetamine separately,” said CNB.
The former has since been sentenced to 22.5 years' jail with 15 strokes of the cane, while the latter was jailed for eight years with seven strokes of the cane. An arrest warrant was issued for the 31-year-old for his alleged involvement in supplying drugs to associates in Singapore, but immigration records showed that the man had been out of Singapore since Apr 11, 2016.
CNB then reached out to its foreign counterparts for information on his whereabouts. According to Thai media, the man was tracked down by local authorities to a residence in Samut Prakan province, which is just south of Bangkok. He was found to be "living in luxury", despite having no reported means of employment or income.
Thai media.