Seet, formerly a property sales agent with Huttons Asia, had been arrested on June 28, 2018. Five blocks of vegetable matter were seized from a car he led Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers to.
Should it be “was arrested” instead of “had been arrested”?
Thanks.
Either can be correct. But if I understand this right, I think the perfect tense is the better choice.
If it’s a basic list of events, then the simple tense might be called for.
He was arrested…
He led them to…
But if you want to highlight that one event led to another, the perfect tense can be used.
He had been arrested.
As a result:
He led them to the car.
The second event would not have happened if the first event HAD NOT ALREADY happened.