On 12 Aug 2003, ICA officers mounted stepped-up operations at the Woodlands Checkpoint to look out for attempts to smuggle immigration offenders in and out of Singapore. At about 2235 hours, a 24 year-old male Malaysian driving a Malaysian-registered car was signalled by the ICA officers to stop for checks at the Departure Section. During the search, ICA officers found four persons hiding inside the car boot. The driver was traveling with another male passenger, aged 21 years old. All, including the four persons hiding in the boot, were immediately placed under arrest. The car was also seized.

2 Preliminary investigations revealed that the status of the four persons, three are females from the People's Republic of China (PRC) and one male from Myanmar. They are aged from 20 to 47 years old. The four immigration offenders did not have any travel documents at all.

3 ICA takes a serious view of attempts by foreigners to overstay or enter Singapore illegally. Under the Immigration Act (Cap 133), the penalties for overstaying or illegal entry are a jail term of up to six months plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane.

END OF NEWS RELEASE

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
13 Aug 03