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ICA Officers Foiled Another Attempt to Smuggle in Cigarettes and Uncensored Discs
The Malaysian man probably thought that he had 'diversified' his smuggling business by smuggling both cigarettes and uncensored discs at the same time, but little did he expect his plans to go awry when he was caught by our ICA officers at Woodlands Checkpoint. The 36-year old driver was immediately arrested and his van and goods seized. On 6 Apr 04 at about 0730 hours, ICA officers signalled a Malaysia registered van to stop for a routine check at the Arrival Bus Bay.
2 During the search, our experienced eagle-eyed officers uncovered the secret compartment hidden underneath the floorboard of the van's passenger seat. Inside the secret compartment, ICA officers found 34 cartons x 200 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes and 1,527 pieces of uncensored VCDs and DVDs.
3 During our preliminary investigation, the ashen-faced Malaysian male driver revealed that he was paid RM$300 to drive the vehicle into Singapore and was instructed by another person to park the vehicle somewhere in Bukit Batok. The1,527 pieces of assorted uncensored discs and the 34 cartons of cigarettes had an estimated street value of S$5,800 and S$2,650 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. Our officers at the checkpoints maintain a high level of vigilance at all times and are trained to profile potential offenders. We would like to warn the public against smuggling unlawful goods illegally into Singapore.
END OF NEWS RELEASE
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
6 Apr 2004
2 During the search, our experienced eagle-eyed officers uncovered the secret compartment hidden underneath the floorboard of the van's passenger seat. Inside the secret compartment, ICA officers found 34 cartons x 200 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes and 1,527 pieces of uncensored VCDs and DVDs.
3 During our preliminary investigation, the ashen-faced Malaysian male driver revealed that he was paid RM$300 to drive the vehicle into Singapore and was instructed by another person to park the vehicle somewhere in Bukit Batok. The1,527 pieces of assorted uncensored discs and the 34 cartons of cigarettes had an estimated street value of S$5,800 and S$2,650 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. Our officers at the checkpoints maintain a high level of vigilance at all times and are trained to profile potential offenders. We would like to warn the public against smuggling unlawful goods illegally into Singapore.
END OF NEWS RELEASE
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
6 Apr 2004