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THREE men stand in a corner of Orchard Road, absorbed in conversation. Their lips move in sync, but there is no eye contact between them. Instead, they furtively scan the crowd, picking out those who let things slip out of their hands. Once an unsuspecting target tosses a cigarette butt, tissue paper or a disposable cup on the ground and walks away, these National Environment Agency (NEA) enforcement officers move in. The first name to enter their books is a teenager's. The young man, with dyed hair and dressed in jeans and a polo T-shirt, is the only one among his group of five friends to flick his cigarette stub carelessly on the ground. 'I didn't do it,' he protests when the NEA officers confront him. He is given a $200 fine. Feigning ignorance is a common tactic of litterbugs, said NEA inspection manager Michael Chew. Otherwise, they ask to be let off with a warning, giving excuses like they dropped it 'by accident' or they were 'planning to pick it up before leaving', said Mr Chew, who routinely carries out such spot checks. Of the over 20,000 litterbugs nabbed last year, 385 were repeat offenders who paid higher fines and were made to pick up rubbish under the Corrective Work Order scheme. Five other litterbugs caught in the 21/2-hour operation in Orchard Road were also done in by cigarette butts. Among them was Mr Nagappa Balakrishnan, 20, who was fined $350 for littering and spitting at Wheelock Place. The cleaner, who earns $700 a month, clearly felt the pain. He said: 'This is such a big fine, I won't throw things again.' Although most caught red- handed were cooperative, the officers had to call the police when a couple in their 20s refused to show the officers their identification cards. They finally complied after 15 minutes, before the police arrived, and were each handed a $200 fine. Only a select few - the elderly and tourists - were let off with a warning. To curb the littering problem, the NEA sends out officers daily on enforcement assignments which last between four and 12 hours. The agency has a pool of 470 officers for such undercover duties, including 50 from security companies Aetos and Certis Cisco. Mr Chew said they can usually nab up to 20 litterbugs over three hours. 'Singaporeans need to take ownership of their own litter,' said Mr Chew. 'There are so many bins around, so please throw (your litter) into them.' But for those who were caught and fined, none was asked to pick up what he let slip. And none offered to.