On 27 December 2015, at about 9.45am, the driver of a Malaysia-registered car approached the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at the arrival forward check area of the Woodlands Checkpoint and requested to make a U-turn back to Malaysia instead of entering Singapore. The driver, a 25-year-old male Malaysian, claimed that his car had broken down. He was accompanied by a 22-year-old female Malaysian passenger. Sensing something amiss, the ICA officers conducted a thorough check on the vehicle.

2.     Upon inspection, the ICA officers detected contraband cigarettes hidden in the spare tyre in the car boot. Further checks were conducted and officers uncovered more contraband cigarettes hidden in various parts of the car such as the engine compartment, front and rear bumpers, door panels, modified floor boards and under the passenger seats.





3.     A total of 253 cartons of contraband cigarettes were recovered from the vehicle. The potential duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded amounted to about S$19,630 and S$1,870 respectively. Both subjects, the seized cigarettes and vehicle were handed over to the Singapore Customs for investigations. The vehicle used in the commission of such offences is liable to be forfeited.

4.     Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security. The security checks are critical to our nation’s security. The ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands. 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.


IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
28 DECEMBER 2015