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Festive Escapades
As many around the world celebrate the spirits of Christmas, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers had brought the smugglers’ festive cheers to a halt. In a short span of two days during Christmas and Boxing Day, the ICA officers at the two land checkpoints had their hands full from pulling out all stops on bootlegging attempts.
Case 1: Tuas checkpoint, 1,625 cartons of contraband cigarettes detected
2 Shortly after noon on Christmas Day, two Malaysian-registered trailers pulled into the Tuas checkpoint for clearance. The ICA officers greeted the two Malaysian drivers and another attendant who were similarly working on this festive holiday. As part of the security procedures, the 50-footer trailers were directed to the cargo bay for inspection. Said to convey a consignment of boring machines, the ICA officers proceeded to check on the two huge trailers.
Trailer declared to be conveying ‘boring machines’
3 The two trailers had low floorboards and were conveying huge machineries. The ICA officers crawled under the trailers to conduct a check on the under-carriages. This was when they spotted black trash bags through the small crevices of the floorboards. At this juncture, the officers also observed that the two male Malaysian drivers and a co-driver appeared flustered. However, before the officers could proceed to conduct detailed checks on what was underneath the floorboard, they had a challenge ahead. They had to remove the machines which weighed a hefty forty tonne each!
4 The ICA officers escorted the drivers and the trailers to a construction site to offload the machineries and thereafter a hydraulic jack had to be used to lift up the trailers. It was certainly a laborious process. After hours of hard work, the ICA officers’ efforts were richly rewarded with a total of 1,625 cartons of contraband cigarettes. The potential duty and GST involved amounted to $114,400 and $10,340 respectively. The contraband cigarettes were seized and the three subjects had been charged in Court on 27 December. The case against the three Malaysians will be heard in Court on 31 December.
Officers hard at work beneath the trailer
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 vehicles used in conveying this contraband will also be liable for forfeiture.
Case 2: Woodlands checkpoint, 48kg of raw bak kwa detected
6 On 26 December 2010, at around 5pm, the ICA officers at the Woodlands checkpoint were greeted with raw barbecue pork hidden in a Singapore-registered car. The 39-year-old male Singaporean driver must have thought that he could have his pork barbecued by concealing it in the spare tyre compartment and side panels of the car.
Unique method of getting your pork ‘barbecued’
Barbecue pork hidden in the spare tyre compartment
7 The Singaporean claimed that he had bought the barbecue pork for RM368 in Johor and had intended to deliver it to a market in the vicinity of Geylang Serai. Upon the advice from Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), the barbecue pork weighing about 48kg was disposed off and the subject was referred to AVA for investigations.
8 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. In view of the potential danger of introducing infectious animal diseases into Singapore, we would like to advise the public against the smuggling of animals, animal products, meat and meat products into Singapore.
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
28 DECEMBER 2010
Case 1: Tuas checkpoint, 1,625 cartons of contraband cigarettes detected
2 Shortly after noon on Christmas Day, two Malaysian-registered trailers pulled into the Tuas checkpoint for clearance. The ICA officers greeted the two Malaysian drivers and another attendant who were similarly working on this festive holiday. As part of the security procedures, the 50-footer trailers were directed to the cargo bay for inspection. Said to convey a consignment of boring machines, the ICA officers proceeded to check on the two huge trailers.
Trailer declared to be conveying ‘boring machines’
3 The two trailers had low floorboards and were conveying huge machineries. The ICA officers crawled under the trailers to conduct a check on the under-carriages. This was when they spotted black trash bags through the small crevices of the floorboards. At this juncture, the officers also observed that the two male Malaysian drivers and a co-driver appeared flustered. However, before the officers could proceed to conduct detailed checks on what was underneath the floorboard, they had a challenge ahead. They had to remove the machines which weighed a hefty forty tonne each!
4 The ICA officers escorted the drivers and the trailers to a construction site to offload the machineries and thereafter a hydraulic jack had to be used to lift up the trailers. It was certainly a laborious process. After hours of hard work, the ICA officers’ efforts were richly rewarded with a total of 1,625 cartons of contraband cigarettes. The potential duty and GST involved amounted to $114,400 and $10,340 respectively. The contraband cigarettes were seized and the three subjects had been charged in Court on 27 December. The case against the three Malaysians will be heard in Court on 31 December.
Officers hard at work beneath the trailer
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 vehicles used in conveying this contraband will also be liable for forfeiture.
Case 2: Woodlands checkpoint, 48kg of raw bak kwa detected
6 On 26 December 2010, at around 5pm, the ICA officers at the Woodlands checkpoint were greeted with raw barbecue pork hidden in a Singapore-registered car. The 39-year-old male Singaporean driver must have thought that he could have his pork barbecued by concealing it in the spare tyre compartment and side panels of the car.
Unique method of getting your pork ‘barbecued’
Barbecue pork hidden in the spare tyre compartment
7 The Singaporean claimed that he had bought the barbecue pork for RM368 in Johor and had intended to deliver it to a market in the vicinity of Geylang Serai. Upon the advice from Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), the barbecue pork weighing about 48kg was disposed off and the subject was referred to AVA for investigations.
8 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. In view of the potential danger of introducing infectious animal diseases into Singapore, we would like to advise the public against the smuggling of animals, animal products, meat and meat products into Singapore.
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
28 DECEMBER 2010