MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!
“Mayday” was used internationally as an emergency distress signal. One could imagine the distress of two Malaysians whose attempt to smuggle drugs into Singapore through Tuas Checkpoint was thwarted by the vigilant officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), coincidentally on May Day (Labour Day).
2 On 1 May 2013 at about 6.30am, a Malaysia-registered vehicle driven by a 34-year-old male Malaysian with another 31-year-old male Malaysian passenger, pulled up at the Tuas Checkpoint for arrival clearance. The eagle-eyed ICA officers noticed that the rear seat of the vehicle could be lifted and found four bundles hidden under the rear seat.
(Photo by CNB: Cannabis hidden under the rear seats)
(Photo by CNB: Cannabis seized during the detection)
3 The bundles were found to be cannabis, weighing approximately 2.1 kg with an estimated value of $69,300. Together with the seized exhibits, the driver and passenger were handed over to CNB for further investigations. They are being investigated for drug importation and if convicted, may face the death penalty.
4 Our borders are our first line of defense in safeguarding Singapore's security. The enhanced security checks are critical to our nation’s security. We have tightened our 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