A Singaporean bus driver found this out when his attempt to smuggle contraband cigarettes were foiled by officers at the Tuas checkpoint. The man had tried to smuggle contraband cigarettes into Singapore by hiding the contraband in a secret compartment in his Singapore-registered bus but ICA officers managed to uncover his ‘secret’ compartment.

2 On 9 Oct 06 at about 1710 hours, the bus was stopped by a checkpoint officer for a routine check at the Arrival Bus Concourse at Tuas checkpoint. The 41-year-old male driver appeared nervous as ICA officers checked the vehicle. In the course of the search, an officer detected a secret compartment underneath the floorboard. The secret compartment was uncovered and duty-unpaid cigarettes were found hidden within. A total of 2,550 cartons x 200 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found in the vehicle. The Singaporean driver was immediately arrested.

3 The total amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved is estimated to be S$179,540 and S$11,730 respectively. The case was referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation. 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.

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 contraband items.

5 We will continue to press ahead with our efforts to clamp down on smuggling. 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.