Teen gets reformative training for trafficking Kpods, kicking 84-year-old woman
The teenager also worked as a runner for a money laundering group, withdrawing S$19,000 from six UOB bank accounts.
File photo of vape pens. (Photo: iStock/Yaroslav Litun)
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SINGAPORE: A teenager who committed several offences, including kicking an 84-year-old woman in a wheelchair and trafficking Kpods, was sentenced to a minimum of 12 months’ reformative training on Monday (Sep 7).
His other offences involved working as a runner for a money laundering group and driving without a licence.
He pleaded guilty to seven charges, including trafficking etomidate and transferring benefits from criminal conduct. Another 17 charges were taken into consideration.
The teenager cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act as he was under 18 when some of the offences were committed.
The prosecution had earlier called for a pre-sentencing report to assess the teen’s suitability for reformative training, saying probation was not a realistic option given the facts of the case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ernest Goh said in written submissions that the teen’s offences were “extremely serious in nature”.
He added that the teen had committed a large number of offences over a substantial period from Feb 28 to Oct 16, 2025, often while on bail, “underscoring his recalcitrance and utter disregard for the law”.
The prosecution also noted that the teen had previously breached a probation order and was subsequently detained at the Singapore Boys’ Home. He reoffended less than a year after his release.
“A sentence of probation would not give sufficient effect to the significant degree of deterrence required in the present case,” he said.
On Monday, the court heard that the teen was found suitable for reformative training. District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam told the youth that he required targeted intervention and was assessed to be physically and mentally fit to undergo reformative training.
The teen was also disqualified from holding or obtaining any class of driving licence for two years from the date of his release.
While the prosecution sought a three-year disqualification from driving, the judge said she gave a “concession” as he was a youth offender. But she reminded him that the concession would not be granted should he reoffend.
CAUGHT WITH KPODS
According to court documents, the teen had never held a driving licence authorising him to drive a motor vehicle.
However, he purchased a “ghost car” – cars without a valid Certificate of Entitlement (COE) – after coming across an advertisement on the messaging app Telegram.
He bought the car for S$2,500 (US$1,970) because such cars were cheaper and easier to buy than those with valid COEs. The car’s registration under the Road Traffic Act had previously been cancelled on Aug 31, 2025.
The teen drove the car on at least six occasions. On one occasion, he drove at 95kmh on a road with a speed limit of 70kmh.
At about 10pm on Oct 15, 2025, after earlier consuming etomidate, he drove the car to Ang Mo Kio to pick up his girlfriend, who was 16 at the time. He then drove towards Causeway Point to visit a restaurant in the area.
But after exiting the Bukit Timah Expressway near Woodlands Checkpoint, he found himself on a road leading to the checkpoint and was unable to switch lanes because there were vehicles on both sides.
At past midnight on Oct 16, 2025, he drove into Woodlands Checkpoint and was subjected to vehicle checks. During the search, ICA officers found 124 vaporiser pods containing liquid, along with other vaporisers and pods. The items were subsequently seized by officers from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).
Tests later found that all 124 pods contained etomidate. The teen intended to sell them for S$75 each, giving them a street value of about S$9,300.
The teen was arrested by HSA officers and was escorted to the police station to provide his urine samples. His urine tested positive for etomidate. He had consumed the drug by smoking Kpods bought through Telegram.
HSA officers also searched his house and found five vaporiser pods containing liquid.
OTHER OFFENCES
Separately, in or around April 2025, the teen became acquainted with an unknown person referred to as “John Wick” on Telegram.
John Wick told him that a group from overseas was seeking to launder money and needed runners to withdraw cash from ATMs in Singapore.
The job offered commissions of up to S$2,000 for every S$100,000 withdrawn. Finding the deal lucrative, the teen agreed to act as a runner.
He was instructed to download an NFC mobile application via an APK link, allowing the app to be installed on an Android device outside official app stores and bypassing standard security checks. John Wick provided him with the login credentials.
The downloaded app functioned as a digital wallet that interfaced with ATM systems using compromised bank account details.
The teen was also told to download another app known as Voov, which was used for video calls with the money laundering operatives. They linked compromised bank cards to the teen’s digital wallet and guided him in real time during the withdrawals while monitoring the ATM transactions through a live video feed.
On the night of Apr 3, 2025, the teen told his friend about the runner job and said he needed his assistance. His friend agreed to help.
Between Apr 3, 2025 and Apr 4, 2025, the teen and his friend went to various UOB ATMs to withdraw cash. Before each withdrawal, the teen launched the Voov app and followed the instructions given to him.
Once the digital details of a UOB debit card were added to the NFC app, the teen would place his handphone near the ATM’s NFC reader to access the relevant account and withdraw cash.
The two teens did not have the account holders’ consent to access the accounts and dishonestly intended to withdraw cash without UOB’s consent, court documents stated.
While the teen withdrew the cash, his friend acted as a lookout. In total, the teen withdrew S$19,000 from six UOB accounts. His friend later handed over S$8,000 to an unknown person, while the teen handed over the remaining S$11,000 on a separate occasion.
The teen was paid about S$750 for acting as a runner and he gave S$250 to his friend for helping out.
In another incident on May 7, 2025, the teen approached an 84-year-old woman in a wheelchair and her 60-year-old daughter and asked them to send him home. The mother and daughter were heading to take a bus to the older woman’s daycare centre.
When the daughter refused, the teen became angry and punched a metal bollard. He then kicked the older woman’s wheelchair as well as her left shoulder and head before walking away. The woman was found to have suffered contusions to her shoulder, neck and face.
The teen is scheduled to begin his reformative training on Sep 22. He asked the court to defer his sentence until after the release of his exam results on Sep 21, as he needed to apply to pause his studies and could only do so after knowing his results.
For trafficking a Class C controlled drug such as etomidate, the punishment ranges from two to 10 years’ jail and two to five strokes of the cane.
For transferring benefits from criminal conduct, a person could be fined up to S$500,000, jailed up to 10 years, or both.
The punishment for voluntarily causing hurt is a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to S$5,000 or both. If the offender knew or should have known the victim was a vulnerable person, they may be sentenced to up to twice the maximum punishment.
Source: CNA/ng(sz)
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