ICA seizes 6,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes at Tuas Checkpoint

SINGAPORE — Some 6,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized from a Malaysian-registered prime mover at Tuas Checkpoint on Friday (May 18).

In a press release on Monday, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said the total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the contraband amounted to about S$512,400 and S$37,556 respectively.

The ICA said its “officers detected anomalies in the scanned images of the consignment” when the red prime mover was directed for checks.

“During the course of checks, ICA officers discovered duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed among a consignment of printer parts and roller scanners,” said the ICA.

The 50-year-old Malaysian driver of the vehicle — as well as the prime mover — was subsequently handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigations.

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

It added: “The ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contraband.”