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SINGAPORE: In the first such prosecution, a woman was jailed and fined on Wednesday (September 30) for allowing teenagers to smoke methamphetamine in her apartment, along with other drug and cigarette smuggling offenses.
Noor Fadhilah Azlan, 28, was sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison and fined S $ 10,300 on six counts under the Drug Abuse Act and the Customs Act. Eight additional charges were considered in his plea.
The court heard that Fadhilah rented a room in an apartment and stayed there with her two children.
It began selling smuggled cigarettes at a price of S $ 6 to S $ 7 a pack, after buying them at S $ 38 to S $ 45 a carton from unidentified Indonesian street vendors.
On September 17 last year, Singapore customs officials carried out an operation to catch offenders who were selling smuggled cigarettes.
They saw two 14-year-old boys approaching Fadhilah in his apartment and Fadhilah was seen handing them packets of cigarettes.
Officers confronted the teenagers, who confessed to buying the cigarettes from Fadhilah. Later, officers searched Fadhilah’s apartment and found 93 packages of smuggled cigarettes, which she admitted to possessing.
He admitted to buying 10 boxes of cigarettes a day for two to three weeks to resell and make a profit, adding that he sold eight to nine boxes a day.
She was arrested but later released. Through the sale of the cigarettes, Fadhilah got to know a 14-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, identified in court documents only as X and Y respectively.
TEENS SMOKED METH IN THEIR ROOM
Later, the teens would hang out in Fadhilah’s room with Y’s sister, who was 14 years old. X also bought “Ice” or methamphetamine from Fadhilah. Eventually, they began to stay.
On September 24 of last year, while smoking “Ice,” teens indicated that they also wanted to smoke. Fadhilah shared her smoking instrument with them and the four of them took turns puffing.
Fadhilah did not charge the teens money and knew they were in high school and under 21.
The following day, officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) carried out an operation at the Fadhilah site and seized several drug exhibits.
They also arrested eight people, including Fadhilah, the three teenagers and two 37-year-old men, Noraidil Supri and Muhammad Sharil Ideres, who had gone to buy “Ice” from Fadhilah.
Fadhilah later admitted that her smuggled cigarette supplier had introduced her into the drug trade “as a means of making a quick buck,” the court heard.
Fadhilah would source his supply of prepackaged methamphetamine through dead drops, which meant he had no direct contact with the supplier.
He was instructed to sell it at fixed prices, earning around S $ 500 per week.
Following the September 25 arrest, 55 more boxes and several packages of smuggled cigarettes were found in Fadhilah’s possession.
Assistant District Attorney Melina Chew asked for at least eight years and 14 weeks in jail as well as a fine of S $ 10,300.
He said this was the first prosecution of the crime of an adult with drugs allowing a young person to use drugs under the Drug Abuse Act.
The maximum 10-year jail term “indicates the seriousness with which the public, through Parliament, views (the) offense,” Ms Chew said.
He said there has been a growing trend of young drug users and protecting young people from drugs “is not easy.”
Fadhilah had also “actively facilitated” Y’s methamphetamine use, sharing her smoking tool and lighting the base. The prosecutor added that the charges demonstrate Fadhilah’s “cruel disregard for the interests of young people.”
The maximum prison sentence for an adult who allows a young person to smoke their drugs is 10 years in prison.
