On 12 February 2025, a 26-year-old Malaysian man attempted to smuggle more than 13,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore via a Malaysia-registered lorry at Tuas Checkpoint.

2.          During arrival clearance, an Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Image Analyst detected anomalies in the scanned images of the lorry’s consignment, which was declared to contain “Glass Jars”. The lorry was referred for enhanced checks where ICA officers uncovered 13,035 cartons and 9,768 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed inside cardboard boxes containing glass jars.

3.          The case was referred to Singapore Customs for further investigation.

4.          Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore’s security. ICA remains vigilant in detecting and preventing contraband from entering Singapore. Through the use of data analytics and collaboration with controlling agencies, we will continue to conduct security checks at the checkpoints to prevent smuggling attempts across our borders.