SINGAPORE: Second Minister for Home Affairs, S. Iswaran, said that customs arrested a foreign diplomat at Changai Airport, who allegedly attempted to smuggle 27 kilogram of gold bars into another country without making proper custom declarations.
Mr Iswaran was addressing concerns raised by Non-Constitutency Member of Parliament Gerald Giam about the case, where the diplomat was said to be carrying up these gold bars in his luggage on a flight out of Changi Airport last month – and the measures in place to ensure diplomats do not abuse their immunity to carry precious metals, drugs or weapons in and out of Singapore in their luggage.
In response, Mr Iswaran said all diplomats like other travellers are screened for threat items before they are allowed on board an aircraft. This includes the use of metal detectors for person checks, and x-ray screening for their belongings, he added.
“Although the personal baggage will be inspected if there are generally exempted from inspection under the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR), a diplomat’s personal baggage will be inspected if there are serious grounds for believing that he is carrying prohibited or controlled items, such as weapons and drugs,” said Mr Iswaran.
Mr Giam also questioned the weight limit on the transport of gold and other precious metals in and out of Singapore by individual travellers and whether diplomats will be exempted from the limit.
In response, Mr Iswaran said there is no weight limit on the amount of gold and other precious metals that can be transported in and out of Singapore by travellers. In line with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, the measures in Singapore and controls are focused on point of sale of such items here, said Mr Iswaran.
He also said that all precious stones and metal dealers are required to conduct customer due diligence and a file a Cash Transaction Report wih the Suspcious Transaction Reporting Office when they sell any precious stone, precious metal or precious product to a customer in cash exceeding S$20,000.
“This is supplimented by the general suspecious transaction reporting (STR) regime, which requires all persons in Singapore to report any knowledge or reasonable suspicison of criminal conduct which comes to their attention in the course of business or employment,” he added.
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