On 14 Jan 2004 at about 0100 hours, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers conducted a check on a fishing vessel berthed at Jurong Fishery Port. The fish boxes were unloaded at the wharf for inspection and in the course of the search, cartons of cigarettes were found in 4 of the fish boxes together with ice, fishes and rocks. A total of 100 cartons x 200 sticks of duty unpaid cigarettes were found. A 44-year old Singaporean man who had claimed the consignment of styrofoam fish boxes admitted to the ownership of the cigarettes found.

2 The estimated market value of the cigarettes is SGD7,060. The amount of customs duty and Goods and Services Tax involved is about SGD5,100 and SGD353 respectively. The male Singaporean and the Indonesian tally clerk of the fishing vessel were referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation. If found guilty, the offenders could be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of custom duties and GST involved.

3 ICA has stepped up our enforcement actions and tightened the security checks at the checkpoints. And this includes the Jurong Fishery Port too where our ICA officers maintain a high level of vigilance at all times to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contraband.

END OF NEWS RELEASE

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
14 Jan 2004