2,184 cartons of contraband cigarettes seized from truck at Pasir Panjang

SINGAPORE — More than 2,180 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden in a consignment of play mats in a truck were seized at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station on Tuesday (Aug 23) morning.

The potential unpaid duty and Goods and Services Tax amounted to about S$169,480 and S$17,060 respectively.

In a news release on Friday, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said that officers noticed “anomalies” in the scanned images of the 40-footer container, which had been declared to contain 56 cartons of children’s play mats.

On further checks, ICA officers discovered the contraband cigarettes hidden in the hollowed play mats.

A total of 2,184 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized from the consignment on the Singapore-registered truck.

The truck was driven by a 51-year-old Singaporean man, added the ICA.

The seized items have been handed over to the Singapore Customs for further investigations.

In the news release, the ICA said: “Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security. The security checks are critical to our nation’s security.”

“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 added.