The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers found 1,750 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden within the boxes of assorted vegetables.
An ICA officer directed the 42-year-old male Malaysian driver who drove a Malaysia-registered truck conveying a 40 footer container for further inspection on 17 August at about 6.10 am. The driver showed a consignment declared to contain about 1,600 cartons of assorted vegetables.
The officer then handed the driver and the truck over to Singapore Customs for further investigation. The truck is liable to be forfeited.
ICA stated that the goods value amounted to about S$135,800.00, while the Service and Tax amounted to S$13,670.00.
ICA wrote, “Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore’s security. The security checks are critical to our nation’s security. 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 contraband. 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.”
commission of the offence (Source : ICA)
