On July 16, 2025, James Wong Jun Jie, a 36-year-old Singaporean man, was sentenced to two weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to smuggling a large quantity of electronic vaporisers and pods into Singapore. The sentencing took place after he admitted to one charge under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, with three similar charges considered during his sentencing.
Wong’s arrest came after a bold smuggling attempt at Woodlands Checkpoint in September 2024. On September 12, 2024, Wong tried to cross from Johor Bahru back into Singapore with more than 1,800 e-vaporisers and pods hidden in his vehicle’s boot and bonnet. He was stopped and searched by officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), who discovered 732 vaporisers and 1,086 pods. The items were handed over to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for further investigation.
Later that same night, HSA officers raided Wong’s flat at a Housing Board unit in Sin Ming Road. There, they uncovered an additional 679 vapes and 1,320 pods evidence of a previous successful smuggling trip made on September 10, 2024, which had gone undetected.
Wong admitted to meeting a man named Raj at Mid Valley Southkey, a shopping mall in Johor Bahru, earlier in 2024. Raj proposed that Wong smuggle vaporisers into Singapore for a fee of RM600 (approximately S$182) per trip. Wong accepted and successfully smuggled vapes into Singapore on his first attempt on September 10, 2024.
On his second trip, two days later, Wong left his vehicle unlocked at Mydin Mall in Johor Bahru so that Raj’s associates could load the illegal goods. After breakfast, Wong drove the loaded car to Woodlands Checkpoint, where he was stopped and the illicit cargo was discovered.
During investigations, Wong confessed that he had intended to deliver the vapes from his first trip once Raj gave him instructions. Their plan was to drop the items off in an open carpark in Woodlands, leave the car unlocked, and return after two hours once the goods had been picked up.
District Judge Wong Li Tein ruled that community-based sentencing was not appropriate in this case. While such sentences do not result in a criminal record, the judge said that the scale of Wong’s involvement and the serious nature of vaping offences made such leniency unsuitable. The judge added that vaping had become a serious problem in Singapore, and cases like this demanded firm deterrence.
Wong’s conviction comes amid growing concern over the vaping epidemic in Singapore. In a joint statement issued in May 2025, the Health Sciences Authority and Ministry of Health revealed that between January 2024 and March 2025, nearly 18,000 individuals were caught possessing or using electronic vaporisers. The HSA seized vapes worth an estimated $41 million during that period almost five times more than the total value seized between 2019 and the end of 2023.
The authorities have been stepping up enforcement and prosecution. The HSA prosecuted 27 people for failing to pay composition fines and charged another 60 individuals for selling e-vaporisers. Two major offenders, Ivan Sin and Toh Wee Leong, were each sentenced to 10 months’ jail and fined $16,000 and $14,000 respectively, the harshest sentences recorded so far for smuggling e-vaporisers.
Additionally, on July 12, 2025, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Home Affairs announced plans to tighten laws related to vaping. They cited the increasing detection of e-vaporisers containing dangerous substances like etomidate, a hospital-grade sedative classified as a poison under the Poisons Act. Inhalation of such substances, which are meant only for clinical use under professional supervision, can result in seizures, respiratory problems, and psychosis.
As the vape crisis intensifies, Singapore continues to reinforce its zero-tolerance approach. The case of James Wong Jun Jie serves as a clear warning that smuggling vape products will lead to arrest, prosecution, and jail time.
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