A cleaner found more than 100 e-vaporizers inside a Housing Board electrical riser in Tampines on Wednesday, November 11.
The vapes were found in a plastic bag and a trolley bag at Block 494D Tampines Street 43.
The vapes were discovered by the unnamed cleaner while he was cleaning up the area. According to Shin Min Daily News, he shared this discovery with Huang Yong Cai, a newspaper vendor, at 5 am.
The 70-year-old Huang then informed the police about the situation.
He later inspected the electrical riser where the vapes were kept, he informed Shin Min.
"I then loaded the items (vapes) onto my bicycle, took them to my newspaper stall, and immediately notified the police," Huang, whose stall is located nearby, told Shin Min.
Eight large vape boxes, each holding 10 e-cigarettes, were found in the trolley bag. He informed Shin Min that he had discovered two more large boxes in the plastic bag.
According to Huang, the police removed the e-vaporizers when they arrived at around 9 am.
The cleaner had previously encountered vapes in the area. Shin Min reported that he had previously discovered a bag of vapes while cleaning and thrown them out.
Reports stated that the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) is investigating the matter further with the police.
With the implementation of stricter measures on September 1, such as increased fines for abusers and more severe penalties for suppliers, Singapore now views vaping as a drug issue.
More than 1,900 people were arrested for offenses related to e-vaporizers between September and November 2.
According to a joint statement released by the Ministry of Health and HSA on November 7, 167 of them were discovered in possession of vapes that contained the dangerous drug etomidate.
Public reporting, according to the authorities, plays a significant role in their fight against e-cigarettes.
Over 2,600 e-cigarette cases were reported by the public via HSA's hotline and online forms during a nine-week operation that ran from September to November.
