SINGAPORE, March 3 -- Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) has arrested five people in a two-day operation targeting the illicit vape trade, seizing more than 1,200 etomidate-laced e-vaporiser pods, high-end watches, cash exceeding S$240,000 (RM740,000), foreign currencies and three vehicles.

The raids, carried out across Bedok, Sembawang, Mandai, Woodlands and Miltonia in late February, reflect growing enforcement pressure since etomidate - a powerful anaesthetic increasingly found in black-market vapes - was classified as a Class C drug in September 2025.

In a statement yesterday, CNB said a 36-year-old man was arrested in Bedok North on February 25, where 50 pods believed to contain etomidate were recovered.

Officers said "the...