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Man on bail for dealing with contraband cigarettes caught for same offence at East Coast Road

SINGAPORE — A 37-year-old Singaporean man, who was on court bail for dealing with contraband cigarettes, was caught for the same offence on Wednesday (Dec 13).

A total of 1,375 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized from the silver van parked in a multi-storey car park in East Coast Road. Photo: Singapore Customs

A total of 1,375 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized from the silver van parked in a multi-storey car park in East Coast Road. Photo: Singapore Customs

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SINGAPORE — A 37-year-old Singaporean man, who was on court bail for dealing with contraband cigarettes, was caught for the same offence on Wednesday (Dec 13).

The suspect was found with 1,375 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes after a sting operation by Singapore Customs officers at a multi-storey car park of a shopping mall in East Coast Road.

The man drove into the mall’s car park and stopped beside a silver van. When he opened the van door, Singapore Customs officers, who had the carpark under surveillance, swooped in.

Besides the duty-unpaid cigarettes, a frequency jammer — which is a controlled item — was found in the car.

The Singapore Customs officers also found another vehicle key in the car belonging to a white van which was parked at Lorong 20 Geylang. Another 200 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found and seized from the white van.

The total duty and unpaid Goods and Services Tax (GST) of the haul seized by Singapore Customs amounted to about S$145,960 and S$10,680 respectively.

Investigations are ongoing.

In August this year, the suspect had been charged in Court after he was arrested for dealing with 615 cartons of contraband cigarettes. The amount of duty and GST evaded in that case amounted to over S$58,890 and S$4,300 respectively.

In both cases, the weight of the cigarettes seized exceeded 2kg.

Offenders may be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, jailed for up to six years, or both.

Repeat offenders who are caught with more than two kilogrammes of tobacco products will also face mandatory imprisonment. Vehicles used in the crime may also be forfeited.

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