It would have been a culinary pleasure to dish out piping hot confections from an oven. However, instead of gastronomical delights, retrieved from two seemingly usual ovens were close to 2000 cartons of “smoking” cigarettes and these were cleverly hidden within the modified compartment lining the perimeters of the oven. 
                                      
                                                                  
                                            
                                               Truck used for conveyance

2. On 22 Oct 08, at about 1130 hrs, a Malaysia-registered bonded truck steered into the Woodlands Checkpoint’s cargo checking area for a thorough examination as there were anomalies detected in images of the truck. The truck was conveying two consignments declared as ovens and pallets of aluminum powder, meant for 2 different importers.  


                                            
   
                                                  Seemingly ordinary oven

3. It was indeed an arduous retrieval process as the concealment enclosing the contraband was meticulously sealed up with nuts and bolts. Undeterred by the tedious task, ICA officers broke down the metallic defense wall with spanners and hammers. They were duly rewarded with a deserving discovery of cartons of cigarettes lined along the perimeters of the human-sized ovens. In the presence of the subject, the officers retrieved a total of 1,998 cartons x 200 sticks and 8 packets x 20 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes from 2 ovens. The potential Customs duty and GST payable for the contraband cigarettes amount to about $140,700 and $12,700 respectively. 

                                            
                                                 Viola! Cigarettes revealed

4. The 30 year-old driver denied knowledge of the exhibits found and claimed that he was performing his usual duties in picking up the truck from a warehouse in Johor Bahru and delivering the consignment to another warehouse in Senoko Loop .

5. The case has been referred to Singapore Customs for further investigations. Upon conviction by the court, first time offenders can be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of duty evaded. For second or subsequent convictions, offenders can be jailed for up to two years, as well as being fined. The offenders also face further fines based on the amount of GST evaded.

6. 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. Smugglers are getting increasingly innovative in their modus operandi. In this instance, an undesirable person could have easily hidden inside the human-sized oven and sneaked into the country.

END OF NEWS RELEASE

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
23 October 2008