Back to top
‘Secrets’ in the Barge
Smugglers must have thought that the use of tugboat could have enabled their illicit attempt to barge through undetected. Little did they realize that it only took a little tug from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Police Coast Guard (PCG) officers to foil the smuggling attempt.
2. On 20 April 2011, at about 2.30pm, the Home Team officers boarded a tug boat and barge that arrived from Tanjung Balai Karimun, Indonesia for a routine joint inspection. After conducting face-to-face checks on all seven crew members, the officers proceeded to search the vessel.
Every nook and cranny of the vessel checked
3. The officers meticulously checked every nook and cranny of the vessel. As they moved near a closed manhole and requested the crew to open it up for checks, a few crew members hesitated and told the ICA officers that it was unsafe to enter the manhole. Undeterred, the officers firmly requested for the manhole to be opened for checks. Slowly and steadily, the ICA officers climbed down the dark and narrow manhole measuring approximately 70cm in diameter.
From left: Officers climbing down the manhole and contraband cigarettes strewn in the ballast of the barge
4. The search into the dark and cramp manhole proved to be a rewarding one. Officers found 22 boxes of contraband cigarettes wrapped in black plastic bags in the ballast of the barge. In all, 1,258 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found. The total value of the contraband cigarettes is about $138,200 while the potential customs duty and GST payable for the cigarettes amounted to about $107,600 and $9,700 respectively. The seven crew members were referred to the Singapore Customs (SC) for further investigations.
Contraband cigarettes wrapped in black plastic bags
Sweet success for our officers!
5. Upon conviction by the court, first time offenders can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded and liable to a jail term not exceeding three years. For second or subsequent convictions, offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded and jailed for up to six years. The offenders also face further fines based on the amount of GST evaded. The conveyances used in transporting the contraband will also be liable for forfeiture.
6. Our borders are our first line of defence 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
21 April 2011
2. On 20 April 2011, at about 2.30pm, the Home Team officers boarded a tug boat and barge that arrived from Tanjung Balai Karimun, Indonesia for a routine joint inspection. After conducting face-to-face checks on all seven crew members, the officers proceeded to search the vessel.
Every nook and cranny of the vessel checked
3. The officers meticulously checked every nook and cranny of the vessel. As they moved near a closed manhole and requested the crew to open it up for checks, a few crew members hesitated and told the ICA officers that it was unsafe to enter the manhole. Undeterred, the officers firmly requested for the manhole to be opened for checks. Slowly and steadily, the ICA officers climbed down the dark and narrow manhole measuring approximately 70cm in diameter.
From left: Officers climbing down the manhole and contraband cigarettes strewn in the ballast of the barge
4. The search into the dark and cramp manhole proved to be a rewarding one. Officers found 22 boxes of contraband cigarettes wrapped in black plastic bags in the ballast of the barge. In all, 1,258 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found. The total value of the contraband cigarettes is about $138,200 while the potential customs duty and GST payable for the cigarettes amounted to about $107,600 and $9,700 respectively. The seven crew members were referred to the Singapore Customs (SC) for further investigations.
Contraband cigarettes wrapped in black plastic bags
Sweet success for our officers!
5. Upon conviction by the court, first time offenders can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded and liable to a jail term not exceeding three years. For second or subsequent convictions, offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded and jailed for up to six years. The offenders also face further fines based on the amount of GST evaded. The conveyances used in transporting the contraband will also be liable for forfeiture.
6. Our borders are our first line of defence 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
21 April 2011