'A heart-wrenching scene': Heavily pregnant woman climbs out window of 11th floor flat to escape CNB

A heavily pregnant woman climbed out the window of her flat in Choa Chu Kang, scaling from the 11th floor to the air-con ledge on the eighth floor. 

It was a bid to escape the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers who came knocking on her door.

Noticing this, an officer immediately rushed to a stairway near the woman's location to calm her down before she endangered herself any further. She was subsequently rescued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force. 

During the anti-drug operation, officers entered the flat and found the woman's seven-year-old son alone, surrounded by drug paraphernalia. The boy is now in the safe custody of a next-of-kin.

Low Ai Ling, senior assistant director of public communications at CNB, told AsiaOne that the suspected drug abuser's flat is located in the vicinity of Choa Chu Kang Avenue 7.

CNB Drug Free SG said in a Facebook post today (July 20) that the woman, who was seven months pregnant, was unharmed in the incident. She was later warded in hospital for observation.

"A heart-wrenching scene for all involved — the suspected abuser, the child, and the officers, all except for the trafficker who had been profiting off her addiction," CNB wrote. 

As of the time of writing, the Facebook post has garnered over 120 comments and 770 shares. 

In the comments section, a number of netizens said that this incident is the reason why Singapore has the death penalty for drug offenders.

One emphasised that drugs "destroy lives and wreak families", while another said that we should continue to have strict drug-related laws despite criticism from other countries. 

One former drug offender even came forward to share his own experience and asked people to think of themselves and their loved ones. 

There were, of course, many who shared their concerns for both the mother and son. One netizen also said that she hopes that when the child grows up, he would stay "clean and away from drugs". 

The distressing scene, however, is only the latest incident of a mum who was nabbed in relation to drugs.

Earlier in June, a woman was found abusing methamphetamine — also known as Ice — near her nine-month-old baby during an anti-drug operation.

The boy's mother was his sole caregiver, and the pair lived in a flat that had rubbish, bottles and drug paraphernalia strewn around.

A major drug stint in May led to the recovery of close to $1 million in drugs from Braddell Hill. 

The five-day operation saw 102 individuals arrested as well as the seizure of about 6.227kg of heroin, 724g of crystalline methamphetamine, 20.438kg of cannabis and 3g of new psychoactive substances.

It was one of CNB's largest hauls in recent years. 

ALSO READ: Consuming cannabis outside Singapore is a drug offence, says CNB

melissateo@asiaone.com