By 29 smokers were caught with duty-unpaid cigarettes during operation in the vicinity of Yew Tee Point and Jurong Point on 26 November 2018, announced Singapore Customs (SC) in a Facebook post on Thursday (29 November).
The offenders were issued with composition sums ranging from $500 to $800.
Singapore Customs shared that it conducts such regular operations island-wide to suppress the demand for duty-unpaid cigarettes.
The composition sum for a first-time offender who has up to one packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes in his possession is $500. Heavier penalties will apply if he is found with more than one packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes and/or if he is a repeat offender.
More than 11,900 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized and 12 men were arrested in three separate operations conducted in industrial premises in Tuas in November 2018.
The authority stated that the total of 11,979 cartons and 29 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized in the operations. The duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded amounted to about $1,074,390 and $78,520 respectively.