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Cigarettes In Your Packed Meal Will Cost You Dearly…
The cigarettes hidden within their packets of ‘economic rice’ turned out to be a costly mistake for three motorcyclists.
2. The hat-trick of detections by the observant officers at the Tuas Checkpoint took place in the early morning of 18 January 2007, at around 6am to 7.45am. In the course of security checks, three Malaysian motorcyclists (1 female and 2 male) behaving suspiciously were found to have concealed duty-unpaid cigarettes within their packets of food. The cigarettes ranged from loose sticks to five packets.
3. All three motorcyclists were Malaysian work permit holders aged between 34 and 51. They have been handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigations, along with their cigarettes.
Related penalties
4. Offenders may be fined up to $5,000 or may be prosecuted in court. For a packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes, the offence may be compounded for a minimum of $200 or prosecuted in court. If convicted 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
5. 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. The hat-trick of detections by the observant officers at the Tuas Checkpoint took place in the early morning of 18 January 2007, at around 6am to 7.45am. In the course of security checks, three Malaysian motorcyclists (1 female and 2 male) behaving suspiciously were found to have concealed duty-unpaid cigarettes within their packets of food. The cigarettes ranged from loose sticks to five packets.
3. All three motorcyclists were Malaysian work permit holders aged between 34 and 51. They have been handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigations, along with their cigarettes.
Related penalties
4. Offenders may be fined up to $5,000 or may be prosecuted in court. For a packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes, the offence may be compounded for a minimum of $200 or prosecuted in court. If convicted 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
5. 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.