The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) of Singapore said that it has seized around 2,500 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes at the Tuas Checkpoint on May 11. ICA said in a statement that the contrabands were hidden in a 40-footer truck driven by a 31-year-old Malaysian man.
ICA officers observed and noticed anomalies in the scanned images of the by that was conveying a consignment declared as storage cabinets.
"During the course of checks, ICA officers found 2,500 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed among the consignment. The driver, duty-unpaid cigarettes and the truck were handed over to Singapore Customs for investigations," ICA said in a statement. It also noted that the vehicle used in the commission of such offences is liable to be forfeited.
The total duty and Goods and Services Tax evaded amounted to around S$194,000 and S$14,370, respectively.
ICA said it will remain steadfast in conducting security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent contrabands from going into the city-state. "Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security. The security checks are critical to our nation's security," the authorities said.
It added: "The ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands.
ICA cautioned that 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.
