SINGAPORE, April 15 — A Malaysian man has been jailed and fined in Singapore after he was caught smuggling a sedated puppy across the border in a laundry net.
According to Channel News Asia (CNA), Mahentharan Ganesan, 43, who owned a transport business in Malaysia, was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail and fined S$2,500 (RM8,382) today.
The report added that he pleaded guilty to importing an animal without a licence and two counts of failing to provide proper care, with another charge taken into consideration.
The court heard that Mahentharan had borrowed money from an unidentified individual in Malaysia, CNA added.
To repay the debt, he was roped into smuggling animals into Singapore illegally. Although initially reluctant, he eventually agreed due to mounting financial pressure.
He was later introduced to a man known only as “Mr Dog”, who coordinated the animal deliveries from Malaysia.
Mahentharan’s role was to collect puppies or kittens — often packed in boxes or laundry nets — from different contacts in Malaysia and drive them across the border to Singapore.
He was paid just S$60 per trip, regardless of how many animals he transported.
CNA said on October 20, 2023, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers at Tuas checkpoint discovered a Labrador puppy hidden in the spare tyre compartment of Mahentharan’s vehicle.
The puppy had been stuffed into a laundry net and sedated, according to Mahentharan, who said the instructions had come from Mr Dog in Malaysia.
Despite being released on bail in November 2024, Mahentharan went on to take another job involving animals.
This time, he was contacted by a man named “Michael” through a Telegram group called “SG Pet Discussion”.
He was paid S$150 to collect three puppies in Malaysia for grooming and boarding services in Singapore.
While he successfully delivered two of the animals, Mahentharan failed to hand over the third — a brown dachshund — and instead abandoned it at the void deck of his HDB block in Singapore. A member of the public witnessed the act and notified the authorities.
CNA said the origins of the animals smuggled from Malaysia, along with the identities of “Mr Dog”, “Michael”, and the lender who first roped Mahentharan into the operation, remain unknown.