Back to top
Largest Haul of Cigarettes and Uncensored Discs Seized by ICA Officers at Woodlands Checkpoint
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) foiled a second attempt in as many days to smuggle both cigarettes and uncensored discs into Singapore. This is to date the largest haul of cigarettes and uncensored discs seized by ICA officers this year. On 6 Apr 04 at about 1840 hours, ICA officers directed a Malaysia registered lorry for a routine check at the Cargo Bay. The lorry was said to be carrying baskets of assorted vegetables.
2 The Malaysian Indian driver was very reluctant to let our officers perform the check on his cargo and tried to prevent the checks by giving excuses that the baskets were too heavy for him to lift up. Our officers suspected that the driver was trying to hide something and proceeded to carry out a thorough check on the cargo. After a thorough check, ICA officers found cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes and uncensored discs among the baskets of vegetables. The driver was immediately placed under arrest and the cargo and vehicle seized.
3 During our preliminary investigation, the 32-year old Malaysian male driver revealed that he was paid RM$500 to deliver the contraband from Malaysia to Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. In total, 1,124 cartons x 200 sticks and 8 packets x 20 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes and 34,710 pieces of uncensored discs were found. The cigarettes and discs had estimated street values of S$88,000 and S$30,200 respectively. The case has been referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation.
4 Under Copyright Act (Cap 63), persons found guilty of selling or distributing articles of any work in which copyright or trademark subsists are liable to a fine of up to $10,000/- per article (or up to a maximum fine of $100,000/-), and/or to a jail term up to 5 years. If found guilty of smuggling duty-unpaid cigarettes, the offenders could be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved.
5 ICA has tightened security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contraband. We would like to warn the public to think twice before they attempt to smuggle unlawful goods illegally into Singapore as our officers at the checkpoints maintain a high level of vigilance at all times and are trained to profile potential offenders.
END OF NEWS RELEASE
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
7 Apr 2004
2 The Malaysian Indian driver was very reluctant to let our officers perform the check on his cargo and tried to prevent the checks by giving excuses that the baskets were too heavy for him to lift up. Our officers suspected that the driver was trying to hide something and proceeded to carry out a thorough check on the cargo. After a thorough check, ICA officers found cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes and uncensored discs among the baskets of vegetables. The driver was immediately placed under arrest and the cargo and vehicle seized.
3 During our preliminary investigation, the 32-year old Malaysian male driver revealed that he was paid RM$500 to deliver the contraband from Malaysia to Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. In total, 1,124 cartons x 200 sticks and 8 packets x 20 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes and 34,710 pieces of uncensored discs were found. The cigarettes and discs had estimated street values of S$88,000 and S$30,200 respectively. The case has been referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation.
4 Under Copyright Act (Cap 63), persons found guilty of selling or distributing articles of any work in which copyright or trademark subsists are liable to a fine of up to $10,000/- per article (or up to a maximum fine of $100,000/-), and/or to a jail term up to 5 years. If found guilty of smuggling duty-unpaid cigarettes, the offenders could be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved.
5 ICA has tightened security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contraband. We would like to warn the public to think twice before they attempt to smuggle unlawful goods illegally into Singapore as our officers at the checkpoints maintain a high level of vigilance at all times and are trained to profile potential offenders.
END OF NEWS RELEASE
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
7 Apr 2004