SINGAPORE: A Taiwanese man who was found in possession of an e-vaporiser pod containing etomidate, or a Kpod, had his work permit revoked and was repatriated.
The 26-year-old was caught on Oct 21, 2025, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said on Thursday (Dec 18).
The man is among six foreign etomidate abusers who have been repatriated or are pending repatriation, according to the joint press release.
“Foreigners residing in Singapore are reminded to abide by the local laws and regulations, or they may have their work passes revoked and be barred from working in Singapore,” said MOH and HSA.
REHAB DEFAULTERS
The authorities said that in the three months since the enhanced anti-vaping framework kicked in, they caught and fined 2,710 people for e-vaporiser related offences, with 257 of them in possession of e-vaporisers containing etomidate.
Of the 257 etomidate abusers, 162 have been placed on rehabilitation programmes at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and social service agencies. Investigations for 70 others are ongoing.
While most of these offenders have been compliant with the rehabilitation order, three defaulters have been charged in court for failing to attend their first rehabilitation appointments. They face potential jail terms of up to two years.
An additional defaulter is undergoing investigation. Four other defaulters, who are repeat offenders, failed to attend e-vaporiser rehabilitation sessions and are also being investigated, taking the total number of defaulters between Sep 1 and Nov 30 to eight.