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ICA Smoked Out Attempt to Smuggle 13,200 Cartons of Contraband Cigarettes
ICA officers at Ports Command foiled an attempt to smuggle 13,200 cartons of contraband cigarettes into Singapore. The successful detection was made with the assistance of the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS).
2 On 21 September 2006 at about 1805 hours, a 20-foot container was diverted to the ICA Tanjong Pagar Scanning Station for radiographic scanning by the VACIS. The consignment in the container was declared to be 750 pieces of carton boxes. Upon analysis of the image taken of the container, ICA officers discovered that there was more than one type of goods in the container. This aroused our officers’ suspicion and they decided to check the container physically. Upon opening up the container at the inspection platform, officers found stacked of cartons boxes wrapped with black plastic sheets at the front portion of the container. To verify the goods in the inner portion of the container against the scanned image, an ICA officer crawled over the first rows of the stacked boxes and opened up some carton boxes located in the middle of the container. His efforts paid off when the officer found cartons of contraband cigarettes hidden in some of the carton boxes. All in all, a total of 13,200 cartons of contraband cigarettes were found in the container.
3 The total amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved is estimated to be S$930,000 and S$60,000 respectively. The case was referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation.
4 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.
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 contraband items.
2 On 21 September 2006 at about 1805 hours, a 20-foot container was diverted to the ICA Tanjong Pagar Scanning Station for radiographic scanning by the VACIS. The consignment in the container was declared to be 750 pieces of carton boxes. Upon analysis of the image taken of the container, ICA officers discovered that there was more than one type of goods in the container. This aroused our officers’ suspicion and they decided to check the container physically. Upon opening up the container at the inspection platform, officers found stacked of cartons boxes wrapped with black plastic sheets at the front portion of the container. To verify the goods in the inner portion of the container against the scanned image, an ICA officer crawled over the first rows of the stacked boxes and opened up some carton boxes located in the middle of the container. His efforts paid off when the officer found cartons of contraband cigarettes hidden in some of the carton boxes. All in all, a total of 13,200 cartons of contraband cigarettes were found in the container.
3 The total amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved is estimated to be S$930,000 and S$60,000 respectively. The case was referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation.
4 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.
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 contraband items.