<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>So powerful and connected to the Papayas they can suka suka get pink ICs for their underlings?!
From orphan to drug dealer
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Aussie judges unmoved by sob story of S'porean jailbird </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Mavis Toh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->His life is the stuff of Channel 8 dramas.
The plot goes like this: He is an orphan adopted by four Singaporean men he calls uncles. They turn out to be drug lords. He becomes involved in the drug trade too.
He tries to escape from his life of crime but is shot in the leg by an uncle. He becomes a wanted man. He goes to jail. He escapes from jail. He is arrested in Australia for smuggling heroin. He is now a model prisoner there.
That is the gist of the story - so far - of Singaporean drug dealer Tan Wee Quay, 38.
Six years ago, he was caught for his role in trying to smuggle 125kg of heroin worth A$165 million (S$194 million) from North Korea into Melbourne. He was jailed 24 years, the maximum sentence. It was the largest heroin seizure in the state of Victoria and one of the largest ever in Australia.
Earlier this month, Tan appealed against that sentence but failed. This, despite the sob story he spun of how he had been forced into a life of drug peddling.
The judges said that Tan had acted with 'a high degree of authority and responsibility' in the drug operation and that his role was vital.
However, they reduced the jail terms of three of his accomplices, one Malaysian and two Chinese nationals, to between 20 and 22 years each.
Tan must now serve at least 16 years of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
He declined to speak to The Sunday Times when a request was made through his lawyer last week.
But from interviews with sources and court documents filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria between 2005 and this year, we managed to piece together further details of his life as he painted it in court.
The judge, however, pointed out that there is little independent evidence to show that the story Tan told was true.
According to documents provided by Tan and his lawyer, Tan does not know who his parents are, his birth date or even his real birth name.
But he believes he was born on Oct 13, 1970, in the Golden Triangle area around the north-west Burmese-Thai border.
He was told that he was of Burmese Chinese origin and that his parents had died of tuberculosis.
When he was three, he was adopted by four men whom he called Uncle One, Uncle Two, Uncle Three and Uncle Four, and was taken to Singapore.
He was an only child in a large house with his four uncles. He was a well-read boy who was good at languages. He studied at St Joseph's Institution and did his A levels at Catholic Junior College.
He grew up in a comfortable environment where his uncles gave him shelter, food and education. They also encouraged him to read and study, court documents said.
He did well in school but Tan had no close friends, a girlfriend or a 'social life' as a teenager.
In court documents, a judge noted that Tan 'had little or no interaction with school friends' and in his mind 'grew up in a situation of comfortable isolation'. There were also 'no females whatsoever' involved in his life.
During his national service, Tan was seconded to a major and served with him in countries like Brunei and Thailand.
=> AssAF connected to drug lords too?
His life changed after completing national service in 1990.
Unable to find work, he stayed home watching TV, reading and talking to his uncles.
It was then, Tan claimed, that his uncles told him they were part of an international drug trafficking syndicate. They also implied that he owed them a debt for the money spent on him.
Said a court document: 'Out of your loyalty to your uncles, your feeling of commitment and your implied debt to them, you joined...their business.'
Thus, Tan was ushered into the world of drug trafficking. His uncles introduced him to embassy and airline contacts who helped in deals. He was also taught how to trade in drugs and studied the codes used in the business.
For 10 years, Tan claimed, he did not have a private life or independent friends. His 'sense or morality was not that of the general community but that which was tutored and taught' to him.
Throughout the time he worked for his uncles till his arrest, he also claimed never to have had a bank account or any assets. But he could not complain. His uncles gave him money and he lived in luxury, apparently.
All went well for a decade. But in 2000, he was arrested in Copenhagen for smuggling 5.5kg of heroin into Denmark.
His lawyer said he escaped prison in 'spectacular fashion', with an engineered explosion of the prison walls in the middle of the night. He was then escorted out of prison and made his way to Germany and then Bangkok.
All this, Tan claimed, had been arranged by his uncles.
The Copenhagen police confirmed that Tan escaped from prison, said documents. However, it was unclear whether it was indeed done in such a dramatic fashion.
The Copenhagen experience apparently shocked Tan and it was after that, he claimed, that he told his uncles he wanted out when he was in Bangkok.
But they shot him in the right leg and threatened him with death if he left. Medical checks showed that Tan really did have a gunshot wound in his leg. He had told the Bangkok police that the injury was sustained when he was robbed.
=> Can even possess firearms in Peesai!
At that point, besides being a fugitive in Denmark and being wanted in Singapore for not reporting for reservist training, Tan also exceeded his visa limit in Thailand.
Besides his uncles, he had no one and nowhere to turn to. He was eventually visited by Uncle No. 4 and instructed to travel to Australia to oversee a 150kg heroin deal.
In 2003, he flew to Melbourne with a fake Singaporean passport. Luck was not with him and he was nabbed after Australian federal police seized 125kg of heroin at the Boggaley Creek beach.
=> Yellow's useless poodles!
Tan was supposed to wait at shore for a rubber dinghy carrying the drug shipment from the Pong Su, a North Korean ocean freighter.
Near the shore, the dinghy capsized and one of the 25kg packages was lost. One man drowned but the other managed to drag himself and the other five packages onto the beach.
The Pong Su, which was refuelling en route to Australia, was stopped by the police and four of its crew were charged.
When Tan went to Australia, he had taken with him fake United Nations driving licences for him and an accomplice.
His accomplices came from Beijing and he conversed with them several times by phone using the code word 'girlfriend' for the drugs. The conversations were taped by the Australian police.
Following his arrest, he was sent to the maximum security prison Port Phillip in Victoria.
Lawyers who worked with Tan told The Sunday Times that no friends or family have visited him in jail. He has made no requests to contact anyone either.
'He was given every opportunity to give any other information but he didn't want to get anyone involved,' said one Australian lawyer who declined to be named.
He added that Tan was 'secretive' about his life and it took a long time for him to open up and give the account.
'He's a bright guy who's very well spoken,' added the lawyer. 'He's coping reasonably well but was very much affected by the position he got himself into.'
In jail, it seems, he leads a purposeful life.
Court documents noted that 'for the first time in your life, you have now achieved real independence, albeit in prison' and 'you're free of the long tentacles of your past'.
He worked in the clothing section of the prison as a cutter in the morning and as a 'peer listener' in the afternoon.
Tan is said to speak up to eight languages and often helps prison authorities as an interpreter. He is also known for organising memorial services for dead inmates.
But though prison authorities hold him in high regard and said that 'it will be a considerable loss to many' when he leaves, being locked up in a foreign land is no easy feat for him.
His lawyer said that life in prison is more difficult and isolating for him, especially as he does not get visits.
Although Tan claimed in court documents that he joined the drug trade only at age 20, sources have said in previous reports that he had peddled drugs in the back lanes of Geylang since he was 10.
Whatever the real story is, one thing is clear: Tan will be about 56 when his sentence ends.
[email protected]
From orphan to drug dealer
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Aussie judges unmoved by sob story of S'porean jailbird </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Mavis Toh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->His life is the stuff of Channel 8 dramas.
The plot goes like this: He is an orphan adopted by four Singaporean men he calls uncles. They turn out to be drug lords. He becomes involved in the drug trade too.
He tries to escape from his life of crime but is shot in the leg by an uncle. He becomes a wanted man. He goes to jail. He escapes from jail. He is arrested in Australia for smuggling heroin. He is now a model prisoner there.
That is the gist of the story - so far - of Singaporean drug dealer Tan Wee Quay, 38.
Six years ago, he was caught for his role in trying to smuggle 125kg of heroin worth A$165 million (S$194 million) from North Korea into Melbourne. He was jailed 24 years, the maximum sentence. It was the largest heroin seizure in the state of Victoria and one of the largest ever in Australia.
Earlier this month, Tan appealed against that sentence but failed. This, despite the sob story he spun of how he had been forced into a life of drug peddling.
The judges said that Tan had acted with 'a high degree of authority and responsibility' in the drug operation and that his role was vital.
However, they reduced the jail terms of three of his accomplices, one Malaysian and two Chinese nationals, to between 20 and 22 years each.
Tan must now serve at least 16 years of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
He declined to speak to The Sunday Times when a request was made through his lawyer last week.
But from interviews with sources and court documents filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria between 2005 and this year, we managed to piece together further details of his life as he painted it in court.
The judge, however, pointed out that there is little independent evidence to show that the story Tan told was true.
According to documents provided by Tan and his lawyer, Tan does not know who his parents are, his birth date or even his real birth name.
But he believes he was born on Oct 13, 1970, in the Golden Triangle area around the north-west Burmese-Thai border.
He was told that he was of Burmese Chinese origin and that his parents had died of tuberculosis.
When he was three, he was adopted by four men whom he called Uncle One, Uncle Two, Uncle Three and Uncle Four, and was taken to Singapore.
He was an only child in a large house with his four uncles. He was a well-read boy who was good at languages. He studied at St Joseph's Institution and did his A levels at Catholic Junior College.
He grew up in a comfortable environment where his uncles gave him shelter, food and education. They also encouraged him to read and study, court documents said.
He did well in school but Tan had no close friends, a girlfriend or a 'social life' as a teenager.
In court documents, a judge noted that Tan 'had little or no interaction with school friends' and in his mind 'grew up in a situation of comfortable isolation'. There were also 'no females whatsoever' involved in his life.
During his national service, Tan was seconded to a major and served with him in countries like Brunei and Thailand.
=> AssAF connected to drug lords too?
His life changed after completing national service in 1990.
Unable to find work, he stayed home watching TV, reading and talking to his uncles.
It was then, Tan claimed, that his uncles told him they were part of an international drug trafficking syndicate. They also implied that he owed them a debt for the money spent on him.
Said a court document: 'Out of your loyalty to your uncles, your feeling of commitment and your implied debt to them, you joined...their business.'
Thus, Tan was ushered into the world of drug trafficking. His uncles introduced him to embassy and airline contacts who helped in deals. He was also taught how to trade in drugs and studied the codes used in the business.
For 10 years, Tan claimed, he did not have a private life or independent friends. His 'sense or morality was not that of the general community but that which was tutored and taught' to him.
Throughout the time he worked for his uncles till his arrest, he also claimed never to have had a bank account or any assets. But he could not complain. His uncles gave him money and he lived in luxury, apparently.
All went well for a decade. But in 2000, he was arrested in Copenhagen for smuggling 5.5kg of heroin into Denmark.
His lawyer said he escaped prison in 'spectacular fashion', with an engineered explosion of the prison walls in the middle of the night. He was then escorted out of prison and made his way to Germany and then Bangkok.
All this, Tan claimed, had been arranged by his uncles.
The Copenhagen police confirmed that Tan escaped from prison, said documents. However, it was unclear whether it was indeed done in such a dramatic fashion.
The Copenhagen experience apparently shocked Tan and it was after that, he claimed, that he told his uncles he wanted out when he was in Bangkok.
But they shot him in the right leg and threatened him with death if he left. Medical checks showed that Tan really did have a gunshot wound in his leg. He had told the Bangkok police that the injury was sustained when he was robbed.
=> Can even possess firearms in Peesai!
At that point, besides being a fugitive in Denmark and being wanted in Singapore for not reporting for reservist training, Tan also exceeded his visa limit in Thailand.
Besides his uncles, he had no one and nowhere to turn to. He was eventually visited by Uncle No. 4 and instructed to travel to Australia to oversee a 150kg heroin deal.
In 2003, he flew to Melbourne with a fake Singaporean passport. Luck was not with him and he was nabbed after Australian federal police seized 125kg of heroin at the Boggaley Creek beach.
=> Yellow's useless poodles!
Tan was supposed to wait at shore for a rubber dinghy carrying the drug shipment from the Pong Su, a North Korean ocean freighter.
Near the shore, the dinghy capsized and one of the 25kg packages was lost. One man drowned but the other managed to drag himself and the other five packages onto the beach.
The Pong Su, which was refuelling en route to Australia, was stopped by the police and four of its crew were charged.
When Tan went to Australia, he had taken with him fake United Nations driving licences for him and an accomplice.
His accomplices came from Beijing and he conversed with them several times by phone using the code word 'girlfriend' for the drugs. The conversations were taped by the Australian police.
Following his arrest, he was sent to the maximum security prison Port Phillip in Victoria.
Lawyers who worked with Tan told The Sunday Times that no friends or family have visited him in jail. He has made no requests to contact anyone either.
'He was given every opportunity to give any other information but he didn't want to get anyone involved,' said one Australian lawyer who declined to be named.
He added that Tan was 'secretive' about his life and it took a long time for him to open up and give the account.
'He's a bright guy who's very well spoken,' added the lawyer. 'He's coping reasonably well but was very much affected by the position he got himself into.'
In jail, it seems, he leads a purposeful life.
Court documents noted that 'for the first time in your life, you have now achieved real independence, albeit in prison' and 'you're free of the long tentacles of your past'.
He worked in the clothing section of the prison as a cutter in the morning and as a 'peer listener' in the afternoon.
Tan is said to speak up to eight languages and often helps prison authorities as an interpreter. He is also known for organising memorial services for dead inmates.
But though prison authorities hold him in high regard and said that 'it will be a considerable loss to many' when he leaves, being locked up in a foreign land is no easy feat for him.
His lawyer said that life in prison is more difficult and isolating for him, especially as he does not get visits.
Although Tan claimed in court documents that he joined the drug trade only at age 20, sources have said in previous reports that he had peddled drugs in the back lanes of Geylang since he was 10.
Whatever the real story is, one thing is clear: Tan will be about 56 when his sentence ends.
[email protected]
