'I was in wrong place at wrong time'
He had just dropped off passengers who turned out to be drug pushers
By Chong Shin Yen
November 22, 2008
HE was about to pick up a passenger at a hospital taxi stand when a motorcycle suddenly pulled up in front of his taxi and a car screeched to a stop beside him.
Two men and a woman then swiftly alighted from their vehicles and swooped down on him.
One of them pulled his car door open and reached in to turn off the ignition. Another tried to unfasten his seat belt while the third stopped a passenger from getting into his taxi.
Cabby Ang Kwang Chew, 54, was stunned. Was he being robbed, he thought, confused.
But as it turned out, he was caught in the middle of a Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) operation on 10 Nov.
Mr Ang had earlier picked up two passengers, whom the CNB officers were trailing because they were suspected drug traffickers. As a result, Mr Ang was 'mistaken as an accomplice'.
Mr Ang told The New Paper that he was travelling along Bedok South Road at about 8pm when two men flagged down his taxi and asked to be driven to Bishan.
Said Mr Ang in Mandarin: 'I made a U-turn after picking them up. Then, one of them said that they had left something behind and asked to alight.'
'The fare was $4.35 and they wanted to pay me. But I told them not to since I didn't travel that much.'
The men alighted about a minute later and crossed the road.
Mr Ang was originally planning to go to Simei in search of passengers before he picked the men up. After they got off, he made another U-turn and headed towards Simei.
Said Mr Ang: 'The two men saw my taxi again and one of them raised his hand and signalled to me. I thought it was to thank me for not accepting the fare. So out of courtesy, I waved back at him.'
After dropping off a passenger in Tampines, he drove to the taxi stand at Changi General Hospital (CGH) and was about to pick up a passenger when his taxi was surrounded by CNB officers.
Said Mr Ang: 'The male officer on the motorbike stopped the passenger from getting into my cab while a female officer opened my door, turned off the engine and tried to pull out my keys. But she failed and the man beside her took over. I then felt someone reaching over to unfasten my seat belt.'
Mr Ang said: 'I was thinking, 'Are they robbing me?' When I had recovered, I asked them what was the matter.
'I was told to alight and one of the male officers told me that they suspected me of drug trafficking.'
It was only then that Mr Ang realised they were CNB officers in plain clothes.
He was driven to the basement carpark of CGH in the officer's car. Inside the car, he was questioned for about 10 minutes before they cleared him. (See report above.)
Sought apology
Said Mr Ang: 'While I was inside their car, I asked them to apologise because of their actions earlier.'
The officers said they were carrying out their duties.
Mr Ang said he then decided to keep quiet and get out of the car.
A CNB spokesman confirmed that their officers conducted an operation that day and arrested two suspected drug traffickers and three suspected drug abusers.
The spokesman said that before the arrest, CNB officers had seen the two suspected traffickers getting into Mr Ang's taxi.
'Thereafter, the officers did a follow-up investigation with Mr Ang. Meanwhile, another group of officers followed the suspects and arrested the five of them at Bedok South Road.'
Mr Ang has been a cabby for 17 years. He works from 5pm to 5am and earns about $150 a day.
He said that he understands that the officers were doing their job and that they had every reason to question him.
But when they took him away, there was a queue at the taxi stand and the people there were all staring at him.
'I felt very embarrassed. I'm not asking for any compensation. All I wanted was a verbal apology for the misunderstanding,' he said.
Last Friday, Mr Yang Lye Hock, an assistant director of CNB, visited Mr Ang at his Woodlands flat along with two officers.
The CNB spokesman said that they explained the situation to Mr Ang and apologised for the inconvenience caused to him.
Shrugging his shoulders, Mr Ang said he was glad Mr Yang offered his apology and he no longer has any hard feelings.
'I was at the wrong place at the wrong time and had picked up the wrong passengers,' he said.
The two drug traffickers have been charged in court. If convicted, they can be jailed at least five years and given five strokes of the cane.
As for the three suspected drug abusers, one has been charged with drug consumption, another was admitted to a Drug Rehabilitation Centre, while investigations against the third is ongoing.
GETTING SOME ANSWERS
CNB officers: Do you have a criminal record?
Mr Ang: No
Q: Did you ferry two men earlier?
A: Yes
Q: Where did the men want to go to?
A: Bishan
Q: Why did you make a U-turn after dropping them off?
A: Because I wanted to go to Simei as I'd planned to earlier and it was in the opposite direction.
Q: Why did one of the men wave at you?
A: I thought he was thanking me for not accepting the fare. They had asked to alight after telling me that they had forgotten something.
Q: Why did you wave back at them?
A: They waved at me so I waved back, out of courtesy.
Q: Do you know those two men?
A: No. They are my passengers.
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