S'porean fugitive charged with trafficking cannabis may face death penalty, bank accounts with over $242k frozen
Nadine Chua
The Straits Times
July 10, 2025
A Singaporean on the run - who was arrested in Thailand and then handed over to the Republic's authorities - has been charged with trafficking almost 5kg of cannabis.
Tan Leng Chong, 50, is accused of conspiring with another man to traffic blocks of vegetable matter, later found to contain at least 4,990.6g of cannabis mixture.
Those found guilty of trafficking more than 500g of cannabis, or more than 1kg of cannabis mixture, may face the death penalty.
Tan's alleged offence was uncovered during the course of the Central Narcotics Bureau's (CNB) investigation into a drug trafficking case in July 2024.
The accused person in that case, a Singaporean who was 64 at the time of arrest, is facing a drug trafficking charge involving about 4,990g of cannabis mixture.
More than $1,000 was seized from the older man during investigations into money laundering offences.
CNB said on July 9 that Tan had been out of Singapore since July 27, 2023.
An arrest warrant was issued against him for his suspected involvement in supplying drugs to associates in Singapore. These associates would subsequently traffic and sell the drugs here.
Tan was arrested by Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board on July 5 and handed over to CNB on July 9.
Tan is also being investigated for potential money-laundering offences.
Bank accounts linked to Tan, containing more than $242,000, have been frozen. CNB said money found to be drug trafficking proceeds will be forfeited to the state.
