SINGAPORE: Two female passengers and a Malaysian man , Ching Siong, 47, who attempted to smuggle contraband to Singapore by hiding them in his car was sentenced to seven month jail, however both females, sentenced to six month jail each.
Female passengers, Joo Mei Suan, 43, and her 18-year-old daughter Ler Kia Ling, who were also involved in the smuggling attempt, were each sentenced to six months’ jail.
According to Singapore Customs and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, A total of 298 cartons and 210 packets of contraband cigarettes worth more than $34,000 were seized. The duty and Goods and Services Tax evaded exceeded $27,100. A Malaysian-registered car was also seized.
Investigations revealed that Ching was engaged to drive the car into Singapore. He recruited Joo and Ler to act as “passengers” as he assumed this would minimize suspicion.
In the first seven months of this year, Singapore Customs seized 134 vehicles that were used to smuggle contraband cigarettes into Singapore. In comparison, last year 146 vehicles were seized.
