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SINGAPORE - IT'S probably the last place you would want to be if you were breaking the law.
Yet, a group of illegal cough syrup sellers has set up shop on a pedestrian bridge just a stone's throw away from the Supreme Court building, where policemen patrol the grounds regularly.
Are they daring or dumb to be so brazen in plying their illegal trade almost under the noses of law enforcers'
One thing for sure, they are courting trouble because the authorities have been cracking down on such activities, with 10 people hauled before the courts in the past two years.
The bridge links two busy shopping centres on North Bridge Road.
On one side is Funan DigitaLife Mall, and on the other is The Adelphi, a favourite haunt of audiophiles and, more notably, where the Attorney-General's Chambers is housed.
A former codeine addict, who gave his name only as Mr Ong, tipped off The New Paper about these brazen cough syrup sellers.
The 37-year-old said that a foreign syndicate has been operating there for at least a year. He claimed to have patronised them previously.
Codeine, which is found in some cough medicine, can induce a high. But when consumed in large amounts, it can lead to dizzy spells and even death.
Every day, a group of foreigners, who look to be in their 20s, hang out near the stairs on the bridge from 5pm to 10pm.
All a buyer needs to do is to give a hand signal to indicate what he's after.
The more daring ones simply ask the sellers outright.
One of the sellers will then head in the direction of The Adelphi and return with the required number of bottles.
Mr Ong said that he used to pay $15 for a 110ml bottle of cough mixture.
The New Paper staked out the area over the past week.
