2004
MPs curious how wanted Malaysian Took Leng How managed to slip past ICA checkpoint
IN Parliament yesterday, MPs questioned how Malaysian Took Leng How, charged with the murder of eight-year-old Huang Na, had managed to slip out of Singapore despite tightened security checks at the borders.
In response, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee said that Took's case is still being investigated and it would not be appropriate to comment until the evidence is presented in Court.
Still,
Associate Professor Ho said that checkpoint security is taken seriously and has been tightened since the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.
"To ensure that the checks at the checkpoints are robust, police and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) regularly carry out intrusion tests to critically assess and test security performance of checkpoints. After that, reviews are conducted for learning points and improvements," he said. Full story
2009
How Mas Selamat swam from Singapore to Malaysia with improvised arm-floats
The Singapore leader of terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah had been planning his escape for about a year before he executed his plan on Feb 27 last year.
He broke out of the Whitley Road Detention Centre by climbing out of a toilet window.
The source told Berita Harian: 'He decided to rely on using the drains as soon as he realised that authorities had intensified security checks over the whole island.
'He crawled through the drains till he reached the coast near Woodlands on the fourth day after his escape from the detention centre.'
It was from there that he swam to Malaysia crossing the Tebrau Straits to Stulang near Johor Baru.
When asked how the fugitive managed to swim across, the source said he used an improvised float fixed on his arms, like how a child's arm-floats would function. Full story
2013
Arrest of 80-year-old Indian weapon spare parts smuggler reveals security lapses at Changi Airport
The police have revealed that the elderly man used to smuggle spare parts for pistol and guns from Singapore and supply the contraband to arms dealers in Uttar Pradesh. D’Sa is a resident of Salvation Apartments in Agar Bazaar, Dadar (West). He retired in 1991 from his job as a flight engineer with an airline. Instead of enjoying a leisurely life of superannuation, he changed over to a nefarious new career, supplying spare parts of weapons to dealers in the northern state.
“D’Sa used to bring spare parts of revolvers and pistols from Singapore, where they are available in the open market. He would then supply the parts to the arms mafia in UP, who in turn would sell them to crime syndicates,” said Police Sub-inspector Ravindra Singh of the
Police sources revealed that being an airline employee, D’Sa enjoyed the privilege of having free seats allotted for him in flights. He would visit Singapore regularly.
His status as an airline employee allowed him to make friends in the airports at Mumbai and Singapore, and this in turn helped him get past security and sneak in the weapons without being detected. Full story
The Real Singapore, 31 Jan 2014
