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Yet Another Flawed Floorboard Uncovered
This time round, the smuggler tried to improvise on the “seemingly” foolproof plan of an earlier foiled smuggling attempt to hide close to 500,000 sticks of contraband cigarettes in a modified floorboard of a truck. Instead of coming in empty, he filled the truck with a consignment of vegetables. But of course, the officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) knew the tricks of these smugglers and foiled another attempt to smuggle the 130,000 sticks of contraband cigarettes hidden in the modified floorboard of the truck.
2 On 14 September 2007 at about 8.15 pm, a Malaysia-registered truck driven by a male Malaysian Chinese arrived at the Woodlands Checkpoint. The truck was declared to be carrying vegetables. However, the vigilant ICA officer manning the radiographic scanner noticed anomalies in the scanned image of the cargo and alerted his colleagues to conduct further checks. The checks confirmed his suspicions. The officers found 650 cartons x 200 sticks of contraband cigarettes hidden beneath the floorboard of the truck. The 33 year-old driver was immediately placed under arrest.
3 The driver denied knowledge of the items found. He claimed to have been paid RM150 to deliver the vegetables to Pasir Panjang. The total amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved is estimated to be S$45,800 and $4,100 respectively. 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.
Security at our checkpoints
4 As our country's first line of defence against terrorist threats, ICA has a duty to ensure the security and safety of Singapore. 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 contraband. 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. We would like to advise the public against smuggling unlawful goods into Singapore.
2 On 14 September 2007 at about 8.15 pm, a Malaysia-registered truck driven by a male Malaysian Chinese arrived at the Woodlands Checkpoint. The truck was declared to be carrying vegetables. However, the vigilant ICA officer manning the radiographic scanner noticed anomalies in the scanned image of the cargo and alerted his colleagues to conduct further checks. The checks confirmed his suspicions. The officers found 650 cartons x 200 sticks of contraband cigarettes hidden beneath the floorboard of the truck. The 33 year-old driver was immediately placed under arrest.
3 The driver denied knowledge of the items found. He claimed to have been paid RM150 to deliver the vegetables to Pasir Panjang. The total amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved is estimated to be S$45,800 and $4,100 respectively. 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.
Security at our checkpoints
4 As our country's first line of defence against terrorist threats, ICA has a duty to ensure the security and safety of Singapore. 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 contraband. 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. We would like to advise the public against smuggling unlawful goods into Singapore.