Back to top
Rollin’ Into His Own “Grave”
Good tyres enhance safety through grip and puncture resistance. They also absorb shock and reduce rolling resistance, hence ensuring a smoother and more comfortable ride. Well, smugglers have their own assessment criteria of tyres. Topping their list – the tyres must be sturdy and suitably thick.
2. On 22 October 2011 at about 9am, when a Malaysia-registered jeep pulled at the Tuas Checkpoint Arrival Car Green Channel, officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) directed the lone male driver for a routine check. However, the alerted ICA officers observed that the driver was behaving nervously and decided to conduct further inspection on the rugged-looking jeep. The officers’ suspicions were aroused when they detected anomalies in the scanned images of the vehicle.
3. The officers did not discover any modified and secret compartments during the physical examination. However, the meticulous officers did not give up on their search and decided to pry open the tyres. Their efforts finally paid off when they uncovered a total of 926 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes neatly concealed within those thick rolling tyres. Even the spare tyre was not spared!
The seized jeep and the contrabands
Stashed loot beneath one of the rims
4. During preliminary investigation, the 48-year-old Malaysian Chinese, Chin Kek Kiong, admitted that he had agreed to smuggle the contraband cigarettes into Singapore when a man named “Ah Lee” in Malaysia offered him the job. Chin revealed that he picked up the jeep at Gelang Patah, Johor before driving into Singapore. He was then told to leave the jeep at “Farm Mart” for awhile before returning to drive it back to Malaysia through the Woodlands Checkpoint. For each successful delivery, he would be given 400 ringgit.
5. The total potential Customs duty and GST payable of the 926 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes amounted to about S$6,500 and S$600 respectively. Chin Kek Kiong was charged in court and pleaded guilty on 24 October 2011. He was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment.
6. Chin had thought that he would be rolling in good times after he had successfully entered Singapore with the contraband cigarettes hidden in all the tyres of his jeep. Too bad for him, the ICA officers had sent him rolling into his “grave” instead.
7. Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, having in possession or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act. Offenders will be severely dealt with. Repeat offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or jailed for up to six years. For every packet of illegal cigarettes, buyers may face a composition sum of at least $500.
8. Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore'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 more sinister attacks in Singapore. The enhanced security checks are critical to our nation’s security.
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
25 OCTOBER 2011
2. On 22 October 2011 at about 9am, when a Malaysia-registered jeep pulled at the Tuas Checkpoint Arrival Car Green Channel, officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) directed the lone male driver for a routine check. However, the alerted ICA officers observed that the driver was behaving nervously and decided to conduct further inspection on the rugged-looking jeep. The officers’ suspicions were aroused when they detected anomalies in the scanned images of the vehicle.
3. The officers did not discover any modified and secret compartments during the physical examination. However, the meticulous officers did not give up on their search and decided to pry open the tyres. Their efforts finally paid off when they uncovered a total of 926 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes neatly concealed within those thick rolling tyres. Even the spare tyre was not spared!
The seized jeep and the contrabands
Stashed loot beneath one of the rims
4. During preliminary investigation, the 48-year-old Malaysian Chinese, Chin Kek Kiong, admitted that he had agreed to smuggle the contraband cigarettes into Singapore when a man named “Ah Lee” in Malaysia offered him the job. Chin revealed that he picked up the jeep at Gelang Patah, Johor before driving into Singapore. He was then told to leave the jeep at “Farm Mart” for awhile before returning to drive it back to Malaysia through the Woodlands Checkpoint. For each successful delivery, he would be given 400 ringgit.
5. The total potential Customs duty and GST payable of the 926 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes amounted to about S$6,500 and S$600 respectively. Chin Kek Kiong was charged in court and pleaded guilty on 24 October 2011. He was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment.
6. Chin had thought that he would be rolling in good times after he had successfully entered Singapore with the contraband cigarettes hidden in all the tyres of his jeep. Too bad for him, the ICA officers had sent him rolling into his “grave” instead.
7. Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, having in possession or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act. Offenders will be severely dealt with. Repeat offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or jailed for up to six years. For every packet of illegal cigarettes, buyers may face a composition sum of at least $500.
8. Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore'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 more sinister attacks in Singapore. The enhanced security checks are critical to our nation’s security.
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
25 OCTOBER 2011