Seized: 6,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes stuffed in game machines

SINGAPORE — The authorities have seized 6,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes that were hidden in a consignment of game machines.

The cigarettes amounted to about S$512,400 in duties and S$37,780 in Goods and Services Tax evaded, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a statement on Wednesday (March 13).

On Monday at around 1.30pm, its officers carried out checks on a 40-foot container at a warehouse along Tuas Avenue 3.

Earlier, the container had entered Singapore and was due for clearance at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station, where officers detected “anomalies” in the scanned images of the consignment, which was declared to contain 10 game machines.

When contacted, the ICA did not want to reveal the country from which the consignment came.

During checks at the trader’s premises on Tuas Avenue 3, officers found the machines locked, arousing their suspicions further. The ICA did not disclose the trader’s name either.

The officers then pried open a machine and found the interior, which was hollow, containing the cigarettes wrapped in black bundles.

The Singapore Customs is carrying out further investigations.

As its top priority is to safeguard Singapore’s borders, the ICA said that it would continue conducting security checks on passengers, cargoes and vehicles at the checkpoints.

This is to prevent attempts to smuggle undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contraband items across the country’s borders.

“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,” the ICA added.