SINGAPORE – A lawyer has admitted to consuming methamphetamine (meth) after he was caught with the drug, also known as “Ice”, at the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Mark Tan Teik Yu, 42, pleaded guilty in a district court on Monday (Aug 17) to one count of meth consumption.

He also admitted to being in possession of meth, various drug paraphernalia and nimetazepam or Erimin-5.

A search on the Ministry of Law website showed that he is the managing director of Mark Tan law firm, which deals with mergers and acquisitions.

The court heard that Tan was in Malaysia on March 17, 2018, when one his friends in Singapore – Iman Hakiki Azhari – contacted him.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Ivan Chua and Yee Jia Rong stated in court documents that Iman and Tan had been friends since 2010.

From 2012, the pair occasionally consumed meth and nimetazepam together.

The day Tan was caught, Iman had texted him to ask for his help to buy a box of Erimin-5 containing 100 pills.

Tan agreed to do so for $750 and bought the drugs in Malaysia from a contact known only as “DC”. While at DC’s home, Tan consumed meth, the court heard.

When he arrived at the Woodlands Checkpoint at around 10.45pm, an Aetos officer checked his car and found a pouch containing drug paraphernalia such as a glass tube.

An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) task force officer was then alerted and he found more drug utensils such as four coloured straws and a rubber tube inside the car.

The ICA officer later found some pills containing nimetazepam and crystalline substances containing meth.

Tan’s urine sample was positive for meth.

He claimed he had consumed the drug to feel “alert and awake” while driving back to Singapore.

Central Narcotics Bureau officers raided Tan’s home around 6am the next day and found more crystalline substances containing meth in a drawer of a bedside table.

Tan will be sentenced on Oct 2. The outcome of Iman’s case was not stated in court documents.

Offenders convicted of meth consumption can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $20,000.

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