Man planned ‘perfect crime’ by planting cannabis in estranged wife’s car, knew it could draw death penalty

A man planted 11 bits of cannabis weighing more than 500g in her vehicle despite knowing it could lead to the death penalty because he was unhappy with his separated family and wanted to make her break with the rules.

He revealed his schedule to his ex-girlfriend, saying he had been planning the “perfect murder” for the “past some days” and that he thought it would not “link back” to him.

Tan Xianglong, a 37-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to three years and 10 months ‘ jail on Thursday ( Aug 29 ) for one count of possessing at least 216g of cannabis- the amount of pure drugs eventually found in the 11 packets.

The Misuse of Drugs Act classifies cannabis as a group A controlled substance.

A second command of fabricating misleading information was taken in consideration.

THE Event

Tan, according to the jury, lived with his parents and was an IT boss.

He got married to his then-wife in 2021, but their relation deteriorated.

In October 2022, his family moved out of his parents ‘ house, where they had been staying up.

Due to how small the marriage was, they were unable to divorced at the time.

Tan consulted doctors, who ultimately agreed that they could get divorced if one of them had a legal document.

At the time of the drug-planting crime, the pair was undergoing parting trials.

According to court documents, Tan was upset about the amount of loan and interest that had become due to his wedding.

He became irritated with his family because he thought she had not” contributed many” to her. He hired a personal inspector to look into her reported immorality in September 2023.

When this failed, he began having frightful ideas for planting illegal substances in her vehicle to frighten her and put her in trouble with the law.

He understood that if his schedule worked, she would be unjustly detained and accused.

TAN’S Strategy

He told his ex-girlfriend in a Telegram chat on October 14th, 2023, that he had been planning the “perfect crime” for the past few days and that he did n’t believe it would be connected to him.

He explained to her that part of his plan was that he would visit the police place. Tan added that he might need to make a speech and call the police.

He also said he was” no sure” if his then-wife would be in the media.

He continued, adding that he had spent “quite a little on this” because he was afraid that he did not have enough money for his program.

On October 16, 2023, Tan discovered a Telegram channel that was selling medicines and obtained a list of the costs.

He observed that cannabis had a 100g optimum weight and was the cheapest medication per ounce. He felt that this was too much, and asked the owner for a “brick” of hemp, which he intended to use to get his then-wife in difficulties.

Although he anticipated it may consider more than the other choices, he believed it would be lighter and more manageable.

The brick of cannabis cost S$ 2, 600 ( US$ 1, 997 ). Tan did not have enough money, so he hired a companion to transfer the funds to the owner before deleting the obscene talk information.

Tan returned home to measure the cannabis after taking it from a clean riser at a housing block.

He discovered that it weighed about 510g. According to his website research, he was aware that his then-wife may face the death penalty if she was found guilty of trafficking more than 500g of marijuana.

In his Telegram chat with his ex-girlfriend, he again alludes to it because he was quite angry with her.

He informed her that he would log out of Telegram and that he would be deleting anything from her cellphone to be safe. Tan added he would not go to” those normal police”, but rather, &nbsp, the Central Narcotics Bureau ( CNB) and Criminal Investigation Department ( CID ).

PLANTING THE Medicines

The secret analyst Tan hired discovered her car was parked in a car park in north-east Singapore at around 5am on October 17, 2023.

Tan unlocked her vehicle using a set of keys he had, and unwrapped the hemp.

He closed the middle area of the back passenger seats while putting on gloves as he placed the 11 packets inside it. Due to its size, the brick could n’t be inserted into the armrest compartment.

The vehicle entrance was then locked and he closed and locked it. But, as he was leaving the car garden, his then-wife appeared.

Her in-car cameras smart application alerted her to a “parking influence” to her car.

She noticed Tan walking around her car when she watched the life stream and made the decision to test. When Tan saw her, he walked aside.

The person called the police, claiming that Tan had attempted to open her vehicle before leaving when she had gotten a hold of it.

TAN TEXTED HIS EX, EXPRESSING Concerns

Tan drove to Buangkok Square Mall, where he threw aside the cement wrap. He texted his ex-girlfriend about how he had seen his partner, and he expressed concern that she might have discovered the marijuana because of its smell. He expressed concern for him that he may have left his fingerprints behind.

Immediately after, the officers called him asking about his abuse.

He lied to the authorities that he had been in the parking lot to change the battery in his vehicle because he thought she might have been having an affair.

The officers called therefore, he informed his ex-girlfriend via Telegram. He admitted to her that he had parked 500 grams of marijuana in the vehicle and that this might result in the death sentence.

When his ex-girlfriend expressed surprise, Tan said he planned to review his wife to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and CNB when she second traveled to Malaysia.

But, he said he could not do this now, as his wife might accuse him of planting the hemp. He questioned his ex-girlfriend about whether he should “faster survey her second.”

His ex-girlfriend advised Tan to fetch the hemp, but Tan felt this would be difficult. He proposed putting off calling the police for a few days in the hopes that his wife did not recognize.

He also suggested calling CNB right away to let them know his family had been using medicines all her life.

Nevertheless, his ex-girlfriend once advised him to fetch the hemp, and he agreed.

Tan returned to the parking lot at around 8 am and entered. He made a U-turn to keep after noticing policemen standing next to the vehicle.

Unbeknownst to him, they discovered 11 bits of fruit problem totaling 523.7 grams in the car.

Around 2 p.m., Tan wanted to go back to the marijuana store because he believed his wife might be sleeping, but he was stopped at his own wall.

Tan’s then-wife was likewise arrested. A search of her chamber turned up nothing revealing, and her mobile phone and car were seized.

The 11 bits of fruit subject were analysed. Although it weighed over 500g, it was found to contain at least 216.17g of hemp.

NEFARIOUS PURPOSE: Attorney

The trial used a platform for the weight-captured possession of cannabis to justify the request for four years and eight months in prison for Tan.

She claimed that Tan had a “nefarious goal for possessing the medicines, more so than if he had been a straightforward client.”

The attorney claimed that the defendant’s intention to charge the accused party with a serious offence had a great potential for harm to an innocent person.

She claimed Tan’s plan involved some thought and was a little bit powerful, including extensive research into drug laws, how to obtain money to buy them, how to prosecute someone for drug offenses, and how to record someone to the CNB.

Tan also used gloves and deleted chat messages to prevent identification.

The attorney acknowledged that Tan did not intend for the cannabis to be smoked or distributed, but that this does not imply that his crime” should leave the barrier sentencing scheme underlying quintessential drug crimes.”

She said that the accused’s order of a sizable amount of drugs in itself gave rise to the local drug deal by lining the pockets of its vendors and boosting the flow of drugs into Singapore.

For possessing a Class A controlled substance, Tan could have been jailed for up to 10 times, fined up to S$ 20, 000, or both.