Singapore police pose as gays to trap drug dealers
SINGAPORE, March 10 (Reuters) - Singapore police officers pretending to be homosexuals looking for sex arrested four gay men suspected of drug trafficking, police said on Friday.
Two male undercover officers posed as gays to get access to a drug ring which supplied ecstasy pills exclusively to homosexual men, a spokeswoman for the Central Narcotics Bureau said, adding that officers had used this tactic before.
The officers found six ecstasy pills in the raid and were led to the suppliers' flat where they found another 136 ecstasy pills and eight Erimin-5 tablets, a banned sedative.
Two of the four arrested have been charged with drug trafficking, for which they face at least five years in prison and up to five strokes of the cane.
"From our understanding, they believe that by consuming drugs while having sex, their sexual pleasure can be heightened," a police officer named Mark was quoted as saying by Singapore tabloid The New Paper.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Singapore and the government has outlawed some gay events in the past. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in October that while gays were "people like you and me" he did not want the city-state to have gay parades as it would offend conservative Singaporeans.
Authorities generally turn a blind eye to gay activities and in 2004 Singapore played host to a gay and lesbian festival that attracted about 6,000 people.
But the party was banned last year and a junior minister said the 2004 festival may have been responsible for a surge in the number of local AIDS cases, a remark that outraged gay activists.
Two male undercover officers posed as gays to get access to a drug ring which supplied ecstasy pills exclusively to homosexual men, a spokeswoman for the Central Narcotics Bureau said, adding that officers had used this tactic before.
The officers found six ecstasy pills in the raid and were led to the suppliers' flat where they found another 136 ecstasy pills and eight Erimin-5 tablets, a banned sedative.
Two of the four arrested have been charged with drug trafficking, for which they face at least five years in prison and up to five strokes of the cane.
"From our understanding, they believe that by consuming drugs while having sex, their sexual pleasure can be heightened," a police officer named Mark was quoted as saying by Singapore tabloid The New Paper.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Singapore and the government has outlawed some gay events in the past. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in October that while gays were "people like you and me" he did not want the city-state to have gay parades as it would offend conservative Singaporeans.
Authorities generally turn a blind eye to gay activities and in 2004 Singapore played host to a gay and lesbian festival that attracted about 6,000 people.
But the party was banned last year and a junior minister said the 2004 festival may have been responsible for a surge in the number of local AIDS cases, a remark that outraged gay activists.
posted by Dina Putri Salat at
6:52 pm
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