On 10 March 2015 at about 3.50am, a Malaysia-registered lorry driven by a 38-year-old male with his 32-year-old male attendant was stopped by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers upon arrival at the Woodlands Checkpoint. The consignment, declared as “assorted plastic parts” was directed for further inspection after officers discovered anomalies in the scanned image. 

2.         During the course of checks, our officers uncovered 3203 cartons and 979 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden within the consignment at the back of the lorry.

Duty unpaid cigarettes found at the back of the lorry

Officers counting cartons of cigarettes from the consignment

3.         The duty and GST of the duty unpaid cigarettes amounted to about S$261,000 and S$24,800 respectively. The two Malaysians, the exhibits and the lorry were handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigations. The vehicle used in the commission of such offences is liable to be forfeited. Investigations are ongoing.

 

 
4.         Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security. The security checks are critical to our nation’s security.  We 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

11 March 2015