Public Prosecutor v Chelsea Tan Yan Qi

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Bala Reddy
• Judgment Date: 22 June 2022
• Neutral Citation: [2022] SGDC 142
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: District Arrest Case No. 906701 of 2020 and others, Magistrate’s Appeal No. 9118-2022-01
• Published date: 29 June 2022
• Year: 2022
• Hearing Date: 31 May 2022,03 June 2022
• Plaintiff Counsel: Norman Yew (Attorney-General's Chambers) and Jolene Chia (Health Sciences Authority)
• Defendant Counsel: Suang Wijaya (Eugene Thuraisingam LLP)
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law,Offences,Statutory Offences,Misuse of Drugs Act,Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act,Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Sentencing
• Citation: [2022] SGDC 142

Senior District Judge Bala Reddy: Introduction

The accused, a 24-year-old female Singapore citizen, pleaded guilty to nine charges. Three charges were under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, Rev Ed 2008) (the “MDA”) and six under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act (Cap 309, Rev Ed 2011) (the “TCASA”). The charges and the individual sentences imposed are set out below:

Charge No.	Offence	Details of charge	Sentence
DAC-906701-2020 (Drug-trafficking)	Section 5(1)(a) p/u section 33(1) MDA	Did traffic in a Class A controlled drug listed in the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, to wit, by selling one packet containing not less than 3.33 grams of vegetable matter which was analysed and found to be cannabis, to CNB officer Zakaria Bin Zainal, for S$80, without authorization under the said Act or the regulations made thereunder	Five (5) years' imprisonment
DAC-916844-2020 (Drug-consumption)	Section 8(b)(ii) p/u section 33(3A) MDA	Did consume a specified drug listed in the Fourth Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, to wit, methamphetamine, without authorization under the Misuse of Drugs Act or the regulations made thereunder	One (1) year's imprisonment
DAC-916846-2020 (Drug-possession)	Section 8(a) p/u s 33(1) MDA	Did have in your possession a Class A controlled drug listed in the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, to wit, one packet containing not less than 3.97 grams of crystalline substance which was analysed and found to contain not less than 2.69 grams of methamphetamine, at the aforesaid place, without any authorization under the said Act or the regulations made thereunder	Ten (10) months' imprisonment
MSC-902746-2020 (Imitation tobacco product)	Section 16(1)(a) p/u section 16(3) TCASA r/w section 34 Penal Code (Cap 224, Rev Ed 2008)	Together with one Devin Fang Siang Ann (NRIC No. XXX), in furtherance of the common intention of both of you, did import article(s) that is designed to resemble tobacco product(s), to wit, 34 sets of RELX devices, 6 sets of Smok® vaporiser kits, and 1 set of Caliburn vaporiser kit	Fine of $2,000, in default five (5) days' imprisonment
MSC-902747-2020 (Harmful tobacco product)	Section 15(1)(b) p/u section 15(5) TCASA r/w section 34 Penal Code (Cap 224, Rev Ed 2008)	Together with one Devin Fang Siang Ann (NRIC No. XXX), in furtherance of the common intention of both of you, did import harmful tobacco products which was a solution of which nicotine was a constituent and which was intended to be used with an electronic nicotine delivery system or a vaporiser, to wit, 356 boxes (containing 1,068 pieces) of RELX e-cigarette pods of e-liquid containing between 3% and 5% of nicotine per pod, and 7 bottles of Project Salt e-liquid containing 25 mg of nicotine per bottle	Fine of $10,000, in default sixteen (16) days' imprisonment
MSC-902751-2020 (Harmful tobacco product)	Section 15(1)(b) p/u section 15(5) TCASA r/w section 34 Penal Code (Cap 224, Rev Ed 2008)	Together with one Devin Fang Siang Ann (NRIC No. XXX) and one Yeo Zhen Ning (NRIC No. XXX), in furtherance of the common intention of all of you, did import harmful tobacco products which was a solution of which nicotine was a constituent and which was intended to be used with an electronic nicotine delivery system or a vaporiser, to wit, 133 boxes (containing 399 pieces) of RELX e-cigarette pods of e-liquid containing nicotine	Fine of $4,000, in default ten (10) days' imprisonment
MSC-902753-2020 (Imitation tobacco product)	Section 16(1)(a) p/u section 16(3) TCASA	Did offer for sale article(s) that is designed to resemble tobacco product(s), to wit, 1 set of RPM40 e-cigarette device for the price of $98, 1 set of Uwell Caliburn e-cigarette device for the price of $88, 1 set of Exceed Grip e-cigarette device for the price of $79 and 1 set of RELX starter kit for the price of $100 to “John Bohyd” through the instant messaging application, WhatsApp	Fine of $2,500, in default seven (7) days' imprisonment
MSC-902754-2020 (Harmful tobacco product)	Section 15(1)(b) p/u section 15(5) TCASA	Did sell harmful tobacco product(s) which was a solution of which nicotine was a constituent and which was intended to be used with an electronic nicotine delivery system or a vaporiser, to wit, 30 bottles of e-liquid (totalling 300ml) containing 35 mg of nicotine per bottle to “Danz” for the price of $300	Fine of $2,500, in default seven (7) days' imprisonment
MSC-902759-2020 (Imitation tobacco product)	Section 16(1)(a) p/u section 16(3) TCASA	Did possess for sale article(s) that is designed to resemble tobacco product(s), to wit, 108 sets of e-cigarette devices	Fine of $2,000, in default five (5) days' imprisonment

The accused consented to have the following 16 charges taken into consideration (“TIC”) for the purposes of sentencing.

Offence	Number of Charges
Section 5(a) MDA (Drug-trafficking)	2
Section 8(a) MDA (Drug-possession)	2
Section 27(1)(b) TCASA (Failure to comply with requirement made by authorised officer)	2
Section 15(1)(b) TCASA (Harmful tobacco product)	2
Section 16(1)(a) TCASA (Imitation tobacco product)	4
Section 16(2) TCASA (Component of imitation tobacco product)	3
Section 143 Penal Code (Cap 224, Rev Ed 2008) (Being a member of an unlawful assembly whose common object was to voluntarily cause hurt)	1

I ordered the imprisonment sentences in DAC-906701-2020 and DAC-916846-2020 to run consecutively and that in DAC-916844-2020 to run concurrently. The total sentence was therefore five years' and ten months' imprisonment and fine of $23,000, in default 50 days' imprisonment. The fines have not been paid. As the accused has been in remand since 25 March 2020, I ordered the sentence to start running from that date.

The accused has appealed against her sentence.

Summary of Facts MDA Charges Facts relating to DAC-906701-2020

On 23 March 2020, acting on information received, an undercover officer of the Central Narcotics Bureau (“CNB”) contacted the accused through the “Telegram” app, a software that offered instant messaging services. At the undercover officer’s request to buy 5 grams of cannabis from the accused, she agreed to sell 5 grams of cannabis to him for $80 and agreed to pass the cannabis to him at the handicap parking lot beside Blk 363B Sembawang Crescent.

Later that day, upon arriving at the said parking lot, the undercover officer met up with the accused. The accused had arrived there by travelling in a vehicle bearing registration number SJX 9379D. Thereat, the accused handed the undercover officer one packet of vegetable matter (later marked “CTYQ-BB”). In exchange, the undercover officer handed the accused $80 in marked notes. The accused was arrested at or about 8.41pm, shortly after the transaction.

On the same day at about 8.45 pm, CNB officers conducted a search of a vehicle bearing registration number SJX 9379D which the accused had travelled in. One pink packet containing crystalline substance was recovered from the vehicle, seized and later marked “A2A”. Marked notes bearing serial no. 4HY092925 ($50), 4BP511331 ($10), 5EQ648995 ($10) and 3KB149810 ($10) were also recovered from the accused.

The exhibit marked “CTYQ-BB” was certified by the Health Sciences Authority (“HSA”) to be one packet containing a mixture of the following: not less than 3.33 grams of vegetable matter which was analysed and found to be cannabis; and not less than 1.12 grams of fragmented vegetable matter which was analysed and found to contain cannabinol and tetrahydrocannabinol.

Cannabis is a Class A Controlled Drug listed in the First Schedule to the MDA.

Facts relating to DAC-916844-2020

On 23 March 2020, while at Woodlands Police Divisional Headquarters, the accused provided two bottles of her urine samples which were sealed and sent to the HSA on 24 March 2020 for analysis.

The urine samples were certified by the HSA to contain methamphetamine.

The accused admitted that she last smoked “cold” (street name for methamphetamine) before her arrest, using an improvised instrument. She had placed the “cold” inside the instrument, used a lighter to heat up the “cold” until it became smoke which the accused then inhaled from a straw.

The accused was never authorised under the MDA or the regulations made thereunder to consume methamphetamine, a specified drug listed in the Fourth Schedule to the MDA.

Facts relating to DAC-916846-2020

The exhibit seized from the accused on 23 March 2020 and marked “A2A” was sealed in a tamper-proof bag and sent to the HSA on 27 March 2020 for analysis. On 29 April 2020, HSA certified that the exhibit was found to be one packet containing not less than 3.97 grams of crystalline substance which was analysed and found to contain not less than 2.69 grams of methamphetamine.

TCASA Charges

The accused was selling e-cigarette devices and e-liquids containing nicotine on mobile messaging applications Telegram and WhatsApp. She would purchase her supply of e-cigarette devices and e-liquids/pods containing nicotine from an unidentified supplier based in Johor Bahru (“JB”), Malaysia.

Facts relating to MSC-902759-2020

The accused had rented a car so that the accused could transport the e-cigarette devices and e-liquids/pods she purchased from JB into Singapore. She did not return the car by 26 August 2019 as agreed.

A representative from the vehicle rental company, from which the accused had rented the car, found the car parked in the vicinity of the loading bay of 326A Sumang Walk, Punggol Vue, on 28 August 2019, and lodged a police report after discovering the following prohibited items in the passenger’s seat and in...