5,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized
SINGAPORE — Around 5,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found in an arriving Malaysia-registered truck at the Tuas Checkpoint early Friday (May 26) morning, according to the Immigrations and Checkpoint Authority (ICA).
SINGAPORE — Around 5,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found in an arriving Malaysia-registered truck at the Tuas Checkpoint early Friday (May 26) morning, according to the Immigrations and Checkpoint Authority (ICA).
The truck, driven by a 38-year-old Malaysian man, was stopped for further checks after ICA officers noticed anomalies in the scanned images of the truck which was conveying a consignment declared as air conditioners.
The total duty and Goods and Services Tax evaded amounted to about S$422,920 and S$31,150 respectively.
The driver, duty-unpaid cigarettes and truck were handed over to Singapore Customs for investigations. The vehicle used in the commission of such offences is liable to be forfeited.
The ICA warned that the same methods of concealment used by contraband smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore. It stressed that it will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands.