On 24 October 2019, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers uncovered more than 10,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed in two Malaysia-registered cargo trucks at Tuas Checkpoint. The ICA officers directed the trucks for further checks.

2.         The first case detected at around 5.15am involved a Malaysia-registered cargo truck carrying a consignment declared as printer parts. A total of 5,044 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found hidden amongst boxes of printer parts.

3.         About four hours later, another Malaysia-registered cargo truck carrying a consignment declared as tissue paper was found to have 5,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden amongst the kitchen towels and toilet rolls.

4.         Both Malaysian drivers, aged 27 and 37 years old, were handed over to the Singapore Customs for further investigations. The total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the two cases amounted to about $857,750 and $63,240 respectively. Investigations are ongoing.

5.         Safeguarding Singapore’s borders remains ICA’s top priority. The same methods of concealment used by contraband smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore. ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers, cargos and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands across our borders.

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
25 OCTOBER 2019

Photos


Duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden amongst boxes of printer parts. (Photo: ICA)


ICA officers uncovered duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden amongst kitchen towels and toilet rolls. (Photo: ICA)


More than 10,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized. (Photo: ICA)