The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Wednesday that the customs officers have prevented two attempts to smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes and chewing tobacco last week.
ICA added that a total of 6,470 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes and approximately 750kg of chewing tobacco were seized from the two smuggling attempts. Chewing tobacco is banned in Singapore.
In the first case, the ICA officers seized 3,448 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes and 74,940 sachets of chewing tobacco weighing approximately 750kg in total from Woodlands Checkpoint last Friday morning. A 47-year-old Malaysian man was driving the goods in a lorry.
According to the authorities, the cigarettes and tobacco were concealed among a consignment declared as wardrobe sets.
The second smuggle attempt took place on Saturday morning. The ICA officers found 3,022 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes in another Malaysia-registered lorry at Woodlands Checkpoint, driven by a 48-year-old Malaysian man. In this case, the cartons were concealed among a consignment declared as wheat grain and food-grade bran.
ICA said that the total duty and goods and services tax evaded for the cigarettes was around S$502,070 and S$37,210 respectively for each attempt. The authorities added that two men have already been handed over to Singapore Customs. The investigations against them are going on.
