First impressions are critical and we often judge people by what they wear. A cigarette smuggler must have strongly believed in dressing for success when he arrived at the Woodlands Checkpoint in his brand new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and decked out formally in suit and tie. However, looks can be deceiving and the vigilant Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers knew this when they uncovered the “dark side” beneath the seemingly “impressive” look.

2 At about 0900 hrs on 14 May 2008, a Singapore-registered car driven by a lone male Singaporean arrived at the Woodlands Checkpoint. Though the driver had made an effort to dress formally in a suit and tie, he failed to hoodwink the ICA officers. In the course of checks, an ICA officer found cartons of cigarettes hidden in the speaker box compartment in the car boot. The well-dressed man was immediately placed under arrest and the vehicle seized.

3 The checks uncovered a total of 100 cartons x 200's of assorted brands of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden in the vehicle. The potential Customs duty and GST payable for the contraband cigarettes amount to about S$7,040 and S$640 respectively.

4 The 30 year-old Chinese driver admitted knowledge of the exhibits found. He claimed that he would be paid $500 upon successful delivery. Preliminary investigations revealed that he had collected the cigarettes from a shop in Johor Bahru and packed them in his car speaker box. He was supposed to await further instructions upon arrival in Singapore.

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 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.

7 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
14 May 2008

Photo 1: 30-year-old male Singaporean subject


Photo 2: Front view of vehicle



Photo 3: Boot view of vehicle



Photo 4: Contrabands hidden in car speaker box



Photo 5: Total contrabands seized