Tuesday night’s S.League game between the Young Lions and Beijing Guoan was abandoned in the 89th minute when a bench-clearing brawl broke out. Was the timing a cue for the PRC national to coil up and roll out of Singapore?

2 On 8 September 2010 at about 5.30pm, a blue Malaysia-registered car pulled into the departure zone of Woodlands Checkpoint. During immigration checks, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer noticed that the driver was visibly fidgety and grew increasingly uneasy. His act of nervousness aroused the curiosity of the officer who then directed the vehicle for secondary checks.

  
The 27-year-old abettor and his car

3 At the inspection pit, the driver was asked to open his car boot. His trembling hands and restless behaviour were just too obvious to have gone unnoticed. His game was over when a red-shirted, undeclared passenger was found lying prone in the boot. The driver and his ‘illegal passenger’ were immediately placed under arrest.

  
Game Over, My friend! The ‘Ghost’ Passenger

4 The ‘illegal passenger’ was later established to be a 39-year-old PRC national who admitted to have overstayed in Singapore after his work permit was cancelled. The 27-year-old Malaysian furniture salesman had also admitted to abetting the illegal departure of this overstayer, whom he first met at a Kranji coffeeshop four months ago. He claimed to be in financial hardship and agreed to the offer made by the illegal foreigner to bring him out of Singapore for a fee of RM1,200. He used his own car and picked up the illegal foreigner in the vicinity of Marsiling. Thereafter, he drove to a quiet spot and told the passenger to hide in the car boot via the rear passenger seat.

  
Behind the Rear Passenger Seat Once Stuffed Inside..

5 The abettor and the illegal immigrant have been charged in court this morning. The car used in the commission of the offence has also been detained by the authority. The ICA takes a serious view of attempts by foreigners to overstay, enter or depart Singapore illegally. Under the Immigration Act (Cap 133), the penalties for overstaying or illegal entry are a jail term of up to six months plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane, while the penalties for illegal departure is a fine of up to $2,000, a jail term of up to six months, or both.

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.

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
9 SEPTEMBER 2010