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Of Sex, Lies and Naked Skin
The officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) certainly did not rest on their laurels after submitting their mid-year “report card” yesterday. Acting on information received, enforcement officers from ICA mounted a concerted effort in an island-wide operation to weed out the undesirables in the early morning of 14 August 2007. The results were more than what we had expected.
2. From a series of raids conducted on 12 HDB units and a cafeteria across the island, a total of 47 Immigration Offenders (IOs) were nabbed, comprising nationals from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Sir Lanka and China. Three Singaporeans harbourers were also arrested.
3. During the raids, the officers found the living conditions of some of the HDB units were very poor and false partitions were formed illegally to house the IOs.
Of Sex
4. The ICA officers also found a large quantity of counterfeit sexual enhancement drugs from China, hidden inside numerous suitcases, canvas bags and plastic bags kept in the HDB units. These drugs were handed over to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for further investigations.
Of Lies
5. And you thought it is perfectly normal to stock up joss sticks during the Hungry Ghost Festival? Well then, you got it wrong. This is just another fabricated lie by these IOs to conceal the duty unpaid cigarettes and tobacco. A total of 84 cartons of contraband cigarettes and five boxes of duty unpaid loose tobacco were retrieved from the boxes falsely labelled as containing joss sticks. The customs duty and GST payable for the contraband cigarettes were estimated to be about $5,900 and $530 respectively.
Of Naked Skin
6. In addition to the counterfeit sexual enhancements drugs and duty unpaid cigarettes and tobacco seized, the ICA officers also recovered two pieces of wild animal fur hidden in one of the HDB unit. The fur have been handed over to AVA for further investigations.
Related Penalties
7. 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.
8. For attempted smuggling of duty-unpaid cigarettes, first time offenders can be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of duty evaded upon conviction by the court. 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.
9. ICA takes a serious view of attempts by foreigners to overstay or enter 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.
10. ICA would also like to remind the public that it is an offence to offer shelter and employment to immigration offenders. Homeowners can make use of ICA’s online checking system, called “VERIFI” (or Verification of Foreigner Immigration Status) to verify the immigration passes of their prospective tenants. VERIFI can be accessed through ICA’s internet website: http://www.ica.gov.sg and allows users to receive an instantaneous reply on the validity of the immigration passes presented to them. Similarly, MOM has a system to allow the checking on the validity of work passes at its website: http://www.mom.gov.sg. Everyone has a part to play in keeping Singapore safe and secure. We urge members of public with information regarding immigration offenders to call ICA at Tel: 1800-391 6150.
2. From a series of raids conducted on 12 HDB units and a cafeteria across the island, a total of 47 Immigration Offenders (IOs) were nabbed, comprising nationals from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Sir Lanka and China. Three Singaporeans harbourers were also arrested.
3. During the raids, the officers found the living conditions of some of the HDB units were very poor and false partitions were formed illegally to house the IOs.
Of Sex
4. The ICA officers also found a large quantity of counterfeit sexual enhancement drugs from China, hidden inside numerous suitcases, canvas bags and plastic bags kept in the HDB units. These drugs were handed over to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for further investigations.
Of Lies
5. And you thought it is perfectly normal to stock up joss sticks during the Hungry Ghost Festival? Well then, you got it wrong. This is just another fabricated lie by these IOs to conceal the duty unpaid cigarettes and tobacco. A total of 84 cartons of contraband cigarettes and five boxes of duty unpaid loose tobacco were retrieved from the boxes falsely labelled as containing joss sticks. The customs duty and GST payable for the contraband cigarettes were estimated to be about $5,900 and $530 respectively.
Of Naked Skin
6. In addition to the counterfeit sexual enhancements drugs and duty unpaid cigarettes and tobacco seized, the ICA officers also recovered two pieces of wild animal fur hidden in one of the HDB unit. The fur have been handed over to AVA for further investigations.
Related Penalties
7. 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.
8. For attempted smuggling of duty-unpaid cigarettes, first time offenders can be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of duty evaded upon conviction by the court. 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.
9. ICA takes a serious view of attempts by foreigners to overstay or enter 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.
10. ICA would also like to remind the public that it is an offence to offer shelter and employment to immigration offenders. Homeowners can make use of ICA’s online checking system, called “VERIFI” (or Verification of Foreigner Immigration Status) to verify the immigration passes of their prospective tenants. VERIFI can be accessed through ICA’s internet website: http://www.ica.gov.sg and allows users to receive an instantaneous reply on the validity of the immigration passes presented to them. Similarly, MOM has a system to allow the checking on the validity of work passes at its website: http://www.mom.gov.sg. Everyone has a part to play in keeping Singapore safe and secure. We urge members of public with information regarding immigration offenders to call ICA at Tel: 1800-391 6150.