Five men jailed for smuggling over S$200,000 worth of chewing tobacco into Singapore

SINGAPORE — Five Malaysian lorry drivers aged between 37 and 51 were caught and sentenced to jail for smuggling a total of 53,249 sachets of chewing tobacco into Singapore.

On Sept 7, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority officers at Tuas Checkpoint uncovered packages of Khaini tobacco in black polythene bags hidden in bed bunks and engine compartments of their Malaysian-registered bowser lorries, which are usually used to transport fuel.

The street value of the chewing tobacco — which is banned in Singapore — is estimated to be about S$213,000, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said in a press release on Tuesday (Sept 22).

All five men had been instructed to proceed to designated carparks in Singapore to hand over the illegal chewing tobacco to a contact person.

One of the drivers, Azman Ayob, was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail for smuggling 16,200 sachets of chewing tobacco.

The other four are:

• Mohd Azizul Mohd Shair; sentenced to 6 week’ jail for smuggling 6,000 sachets

• Zuraime Ahmad; sentenced to 5 weeks’  jail for smuggling 5,969 sachets

• Mohd Hairul Nizal Hamzah; sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail for smuggling 12,030 sachets

• Mohd Hamzie Naim; sentenced to 13 weeks’ jail for smuggling 13,050 sachets

The HSA noted in its press release that the import, distribution, sale or offer for sale imitation tobacco products such as shisha tobacco, smokeless tobacco, chewing tobacco such as Gutkha, Khaini, Zarda, electronic vaporisers and their accessories are illegal here.

Anyone convicted of an offence under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act can be fined up to S$10,000, jailed up to six months, or both, for the first offence.

Repeat offenders can be fined up to S$20,000, jailed up to 12 months, or both.