More than 1 million illegal health products including cough syrup, sex drugs seized in 2025: HSA
Lok Jian Wen
The Straits Times
March 24, 2026
More than 1.06 million units of illegal health products worth over $750,000 were seized in 2025, an increase of around 10 per cent from the previous year, said the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) on March 24.
Most of these products seized through ground operations were cough syrups (56 per cent), sexual enhancement medicines (19 per cent), and sedatives and painkillers (17 per cent), similar to the composition of illegal products seized in past years, said HSA.
Apart from the products seized, more than 2,300 listings of illegal health products were removed from e-commerce sites and social media in 2025. The number of listings found and removed dropped from 7,190 in 2024.
Surveillance tools and automated bots were used to monitor the illegal listings, HSA said.
Nearly 1,400 warnings were given to sellers for listing illegal products as varied as nasal aspirators, contact lenses, and anti-hair loss and acne prescription products.
In 2024, most listings taken down involved sex enhancement drugs and contact lenses. The significant decrease in these listings in 2025 was down to intensified surveillance, HSA said, but also after reports from consumers who experienced adverse effects from using those contact lenses.
E-commerce sites Shopee and Lazada and video-sharing app TikTok were the three online platforms where most of the illegal health product listings appeared, said HSA.
The health authority said it collaborates with online platforms to remove such unlawful listings.
Geylang street peddlers, cross-border smugglers
Taking drugs obtained from questionable street peddlers has led to some consumers suffering adverse effects, including near life-threatening conditions.
Between February 2024 and February 2025, nine people suffered adverse effects after taking health products meant to “boost energy and health” without a doctor’s prescription, said HSA.
The seven men and two women had consumed products containing modafinil and armodafinil, which they had bought from their friends or Geylang street peddlers.
They subsequently developed adverse skin symptoms, including life-threatening blistering that covered 60 per cent of one man’s body, and severe peeling and oral ulcers that left another man in his 40s unable to eat and speak temporarily.
Prescription medicines should be obtained and taken under the medical supervision of doctors or pharmacists, said HSA.
At least 18 people were prosecuted for the sale and supply of illegal health products in 2025.
Soh Eng Keng, 24, was caught for illegally possessing cough syrups, sedatives and opioids with the intention to hawk them in Geylang for a daily wage of $160. The Singaporean was sentenced to 38 weeks’ imprisonment in October 2025, after he reoffended twice.
August 2025 also saw Singapore’s first conviction for the supply and sale of etomidate, after Mohammed Akil Abdul Rahim, 41, was caught in his home with enough powder to make more than 70 vape pods. He was sentenced to 11 months’ jail.
Enforcement operations and intelligence-sharing have also led to the seizure of illegal drugs at Singapore’s borders.
In November 2025, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers detected a 23-year-old foreigner attempting to smuggle around 11,500 units of addictive medicines including painkillers worth around $12,000.
In February 2025, Malaysian Thurairaj Vengu, 39, was detained at Woodlands Checkpoint after attempting to smuggle 15,000 sleeping tablets using his motorcycle.
He was attempting to deliver the tablets to Tekka Market for a RM300 (S$97) reward, but was instead sentenced to 19 weeks’ imprisonment, 2025’s highest punishment for importing benzodiazepines into Singapore.
Anyone caught importing, manufacturing or supplying illegal health products faces a two-year prison term and a $50,000 fine.
HSA has continually enhanced capabilities in surveillance and enforcement to curb illegal health products’ sale and distribution in Singapore, said its chief executive officer Raymond Chua.
“The feedback we get from members of the public on such products also helps to ensure timely action against them,” he said. “Such products can in fact harm one’s health, and consumers should not buy them from unreliable or unauthorised sources.”
Reports of illegal activity involving unlawful health products can be made to HSA’s enforcement branch via:
- Phone: 6866-3485 (weekdays, 8.30am to 5.30pm)
- E-mail: hsa_is@hsa.gov.sg
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