PILL PUSHERS POPPING UP AGAIN

Illegal peddlers of prescription medicine return to Geylang despite multiple raids in the area

- Zaihan Mohamed Yusof

Pill peddlers illegally hawking prescription medication, including the addictive codeine-laced mixtures, have returned to the streets in the Geylang area, pushing their wares closer to Housing Board estates.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) had conducted multiple raids in the area, but residents say the peddlers return the moment there is a let-up.

In a raid of a condominium unit in Geylang in May, HSA officers and the police seized 165 liters of cough syrup and more than 57,000 units of assorted medicine, with a street value of about $130,000.

The unit was suspected to be used for the illegal manufacture and storage of cough syrup and medicine.

The Sunday Times was alerted to two men operating near a coffee shop in Lorong 21A Geylang.

On Aug 5, ST saw them selling their pills next to a pavement frequented by residents of the Sims Place housing estate.

The elderly men appeared to have hidden their goods in a box on a bicycle, which was secured to a tree. Interested buyers would approach them before being brought to the bicycle where they collect their pills.

Ms Miriam Lee, 55, said she often wondered about the number of people crowding around the bicycle.

The Sims Place resident added: "Now it makes sense. For months, I thought it was suspicious why the bicycle was always locked and kept there. The men selling the pills should be arrested."

Mr Chew, a retiree, is concerned the men will even sell medication to children.