6 weeks' jail for ex-Certis team leader who kept illegal sex drugs seized in Geylang for his own use

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
May 7, 2024

An auxiliary policeman was the leader of a team tasked to patrol Geylang when he made off with illegal sex enhancement drugs (SEDs) seized from peddlers in the area.

Mohd Aris Jalil, 66, who took the drugs for his own consumption, pleaded guilty on May 7 to one count of criminal breach of trust and was sentenced to six weeks’ jail.

The Singaporean – one of four men linked to the case who were hauled to court in November 2023 – is no longer working as an auxiliary policeman for security firm Certis.

The cases involving two of the other men – Malaysian Thiru Murugan Shanmugam, 30, and Chinese national Chen Zixiong, 32 – are pending.

Thiru is also a former Certis auxiliary policeman, while Chen is said to be an SED peddler.

At the time of the offences, the fourth man, Mohammad Hafizudin Hanapiah, 30, was a security officer employed by Dynamiz Security and contracted to Certis.

Hafizudin, who is no longer working for Certis, was sentenced to three months and two weeks’ jail in January after he pleaded guilty to a graft charge.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kiera Yu told the court that the Singapore Police Force (SPF) had formed Foreign Workers Management (FWM) teams to patrol places where foreigners congregate.

Each FWM team typically consists of auxiliary police officers, who are in uniform and armed, and security officers, who are unarmed and dressed in polo shirts. The SPF also had a contract with Certis to supply auxiliary police officers and security officers for deployment in the FWM teams.

Among other duties, the officers were tasked to take action against offences such as littering and the sale of illegal SEDs.

Aris, Hafizudin and Thiru were in a team known as “Golf 3”, and attached to Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre. The team was tasked to patrol Geylang.

Team members seized SEDs from peddlers in the area, and the items were taken to a vehicle for the FWM team.

Instead of handing over all the SEDs to the SPF, Aris kept a portion of the drugs for his own consumption some time before Sept 13, 2022.

DPP Yu told the court: “He chose to take the SEDs... when no one in the team would notice his actions.”

On Aug 29, 2022, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) received information about offences committed by members of Golf 3.

CPIB conducted a search on Aris on Sept 13 that year and found SEDs worth $188 in total in his possession.

Meanwhile, court documents stated that Hafizudin, a Singaporean, had worked together with Thiru to obtain $140 in bribes from Chen.

The prosecutor had earlier said that the pair obtained the bribes in exchange for refraining from taking enforcement action against the Chinese national.

For criminal breach of trust, an offender can be jailed for up to 15 years and fined.