Singapore’s Underground Vape Chain Revealed：How Dispatchers, Telegram Groups, and Small “Online Shops” Form an Operating Model

2Firsts, December 2, 2025 — A vape-related case reported by the newspaper in the article “Single father of three jailed and fined for running Telegram vape shop, making deliveries” reveals the typical operational patterns of Singapore’s underground vape trade. Based on the report, the outlet uses this case as a sample to outline the structure and functioning of the country’s underground vape distribution network.

The individual involved, Shaun Phua Ming Hui, 32, is a single father of three. In April 2023, a friend introduced him to a Telegram group dedicated to assigning vape-delivery tasks. He received 10 SGD (about 7.7 USD) per delivery, completing 10 to 15 parcels per day, two days a week, earning 100 to 150 SGD daily (about 77 to 115.5 USD).

This delivery model was small-scale, frequent, and fragmented, with routes and schedules centrally assigned through the group.

In March 2024, Phua was further recruited by an industry insider. In addition to doing deliveries, he began operating two Telegram shop accounts—“Abigail vape shop” and “Ashley Tang”—which had been created upstream and issued to him. He used these accounts to receive orders, forward them to another group, and check whether packers were preparing the correct items. For operating the accounts, he earned an additional 50 SGD per week (about 38.5 USD), bringing his monthly illegal income to roughly 500 SGD (about 385 USD).

Court documents indicate that these accounts were not created by Phua himself, but generated in bulk by upstream actors and handed to part-time workers, further increasing the chain’s concealment.

On September 7, 2024, officers from the authority conducted a test-buy operation at Guilin View condominium in Bukit Gombak. Phua was arrested after arriving in a vehicle with his girlfriend to deliver the products. Vape devices and pods were found in the car, including five devices he admitted were for his own use. The operation stemmed from intelligence regarding a Telegram group selling vapes.

The court sentenced Phua to seven weeks’ jail and a fine of 16,000 SGD (about 12,320 USD). If he is unable to pay the fine, he will serve an additional 32 days in jail. He pleaded guilty to 10 charges, while 35 others were taken into consideration. Prosecutors stated that, with vaping offences on the rise, stronger deterrence was required.

Based on the case details, Singapore’s black-market vape operations typically involve:

• Scheduling coordinated through Telegram groups
• Point-to-point delivery by part-time dispatchers
• Upstream creation and distribution of shop accounts to operators
• Small order volumes, frequent drops, and a segmented distribution chain

Image source: The Straits Times