"What did you do during the holidays?" This seemingly innocuous question asked in school after every long holiday break is often met with tantalising tales of adrenalin-rushing activities. Not so for one 12-year-old girl. For her, it was a holiday she would want to forget as she was caught while helping her father to smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore. ICA officers at Woodlands checkpoint detected 33 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden on her and her father as they arrived in Singapore on 4 Dec 05.

2 At around 1520 hours, a Singaporean man coming back to Singapore through Woodlands checkpoint was stopped by ICA officers for a routine check. The 58-year-old Chinese was accompanied by his 12-year-old daughter. ICA officers did not find anything incriminating in the car they were in. However, the observant officer noticed an unusual bulge in the girl's pants. She was asked to empty her pockets and the officer found six packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes. The girl had worn two pairs of trousers and another five packets of cigarettes were found in the pockets of the inner pair of trousers. A thorough check was also done on the man and 22 packets of cigarettes were found in his socks.

3 The man admitted ownership to the cigarettes and claimed that the duty-unpaid cigarettes were meant as festive gifts for his friends. The case has been referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation. If found guilty, the offenders could be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved.

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. We would like to advise the public against smuggling unlawful goods into Singapore.

END OF NEWS RELEASE

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
5 Dec 2005