MORE than 42,000 packs of contraband cigarettes have been seized in an operation by Singapore Customs officers.
The cigarettes - worth more than $300,000 in unpaid taxes - were stashed inside two vans parked on the premises of a condominium here.
A 55-year-old Singaporean man was arrested during the opreation on May 5.
Officers had staked out the condominium premises and were keeping tabs on a blue van parked there.
They later saw the man driving the van to another part of the estate and parking it next to a white van. Officers then moved in and arrested him.
When they inspected the two vans, they found the contraband cigarettes inside.
Initial investigations revealed that the man had been hired by a Malaysian supplier known to him only as "Boss".
His job was to load cigarettes onto the two vehicles and deliver them to various locations. He was to have been paid after he had completed the task. The man was charged on May 6 and investigations are ongoing. The two vehicles were also seized.
Singapore Customs yesterday urged the public to be vigilant, because even supposedly secure areas such as condominiums can be used by smugglers.
It added that anyone who buys, sells, delivers or stores smuggled goods will be severely dealt with.
Anyone with information regarding smugglers or tax evaders can call the Singapore Customs hotline on 1800-2330000.
(Taken from The Straits Times, Friday, May 20 2011, Page C6)
THE goods had been declared as general cargo, but alert officers saw past the ruse on Wednesday and seized more than 41,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes - the biggest single haul in five years.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a media statement yesterday that the cigarettes were found in a 40-foot container that had arrived for clearance at the Pasir Panjang Scaning Station.
The 41,200 cartons were stashed inside brown cardboard boxes. In April last year, nearly 10,000 cartons were seized in a single haul at the Woodlands checkpoint.
The street value of this latest seizure is estimated at $4.12 million. The unpaid duty and goods and services tax amount to about $2.9 million and $275,000 respectively.
The container arrived at the scanning station for clearance at about 8pm on Wednesday. The innocuous-looking consignment had been declared as "general cargo".
Its "scan and seal" status indicated it was in trans-shipment, bound for the Keppel Free Trade Zone from the Pasir Panjang Free Trade Zone. It was not to be imported into Singapore, but its destination overseas was not recorded at the time.
As part of routine checks, officers subjected the cargo to radiographic scanning and checked that the seal was intact. ICA analysts detected that the scanned image was inconsistent with the goods declared in the permit. They then opened the boxes and discovered the illicit cargo.
Singapore Customs has taken over the case for further investigations.
Among the largest single hauls recorded in recent years are 22,600 cartons seized in April 2007 and 8,110 cartons seized in December 2008.
The number of detected cigarette-smuggling attempts has gone up, rising by 45 per cent from 19,000 in 2009 to 27,600 last year.
About 1.3 million packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized last year, an increase of about 1.5 per cent from the amount in 2009.
Smugglers have hidden contraband beneath floorboards under oil drums aboard vessels and inside consignments of salt and fruits.
The ICA added in its statement that it had tightened security checks on passengers and vehicles at checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contraband.
First-time offenders may be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded and face a maximum jail term of three years. For subsequent convictions, offenders can be fined up to 40 times the duty evaded and jailed for up to six years.
Offenders also face further fines based on the amount of GST evaded. In addition, vehicles used in transporting the goods can be forfeited.
(Taken from The Straits Times, Friday, May 21 2011, Page B4)