SINGAPORE: In one case, contraband cigarettes were found concealed in a bus with students on board. In another case, boxes of contraband cigarettes were found a bus’s luggage compartment.
More than 1,900 cartons of contraband cigarettes were seized in two separate attempts to smuggle the cigarettes into Singapore.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said here the other day that the total duty and Goods and Services Tax evaded for the two cases exceeded S$153,650 and S$14,660.
Last Friday, 69 cartons and 112 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized during an inspection of a Malaysia-registered bus at about 6.40am at Woodlands Checkpoint. It was driven by a 30-year-old Malaysian woman, who was ferrying six students attending schools in Singapore. The cigarettes were found hidden in modified storage areas of both sides of the bus. The driver was sentenced to three months’ jail on Wednesday.
Three days later at about 1am on Monday, 1,850 cartons and 499 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized on an empty bus driven by a 19-year-old Malaysian man. Officers at Tuas Checkpoint found the cigarettes hidden in the rear luggage compartment of the bus. Investigations are ongoing for the driver.
The contraband cigarettes and vehicles for both cases had been handed over to the Singapore Customs for investigation. The vehicles used are liable to be forfeited.
