In a bid to satisfy their craving, the bootleggers have adopted a gourmet approach in their latest smuggling attempt. By modelling their method of concealment after the creation of kueh lapis, they must have conceitedly thought they can pull the wool over the eyes of officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) .

2 On 12 June 2008 at about 0230 hours, ICA officers conducted checks on a Malaysia-registered “Bas Pekerja” at the Arrival Bus Concourse of Tuas Checkpoint. There were eight factory workers travelling on the bus. When the bus was directed for a scan using the Z-backscatter van, the vigilant officer noticed anomalies in the scanned images. Upon further checks, the officers uncovered duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed beneath the floorboard of the bus.

                                                   Case Picture 1 – Bas Pekerja

3 Interestingly, the method of concealment was both unprecedented and “sophisticated”. Beneath the floorboard, the officers found a tri-layered barrier. It was made of three alternating layers of metal sheet and thick solid wood. The arduous process of penetrating the layers did not daunt the ICA officers into quitting the checks. The ICA officers enlisted the help of the officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). United in strength, the Home Team officers shared their resources and worked laboriously to retrieve the contrabands. 

                                    



        Case Picture 2 – Officers trying to find the opening to the secret compartment

                                  

         Case Picture 3 – HT officers working together to retrieve the contrabands

4 After a tedious process of un-stuffing, a total of 375 cartons x 200 sticks of cigarettes was found concealed in the secret compartment. The potential Customs duty and GST payable for the contraband cigarettes amount to about S$26,400 and S$2,400 respectively.


5 The 33 year-old Malaysian Malay driver admitted knowledge of the exhibits found. He revealed that he was instructed to drive the bus to Bukit Batok and to park it there. He would be paid RM200 for the job.

6 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.

7 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.

8 ICA will put in every effort and continue to take the necessary measures to improve clearance efficiency as much as possible without compromising security. We seek your continued understanding and cooperation, and would like to advise against smuggling unlawful goods into Singapore.


Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
13 June 2008