Lorry driver caught smuggling over 14,400 vapes and components, then tried to illegally leave S’pore

On June 9, Fakaruddin collected the lorry from his legitimate employer before picking up the scheduled consignment.

But instead of heading straight into Singapore to deliver the consignment, he drove to another location in Malaysia as instructed by the syndicate.

The lorry was then loaded with the vapes and components, which he was told to smuggle into Singapore.

They promised to pay him RM4,000 (S$1,200) for the delivery.

But as Fakaruddin passed through Tuas Checkpoint at around 4pm that day, his lorry was stopped and searched by ICA officers, who found the smuggled goods.

His passport was then impounded and he was released.

Fakaruddin later told another lorry driver that he wanted to go back to Malaysia as he missed his family, but could not do so as his passport had been impounded.

The other driver then told Fakaruddin to hide inside his lorry’s cargo compartment before he drove to Tuas Checkpoint on the night of June 12.

At the checkpoint, ICA officers pulled the lorry aside for further checks and found Fakaruddin lying down and hiding inside the cargo compartment.

He was arrested and has been held in remand since. The other driver was also arrested.

In mitigation, Fakaruddin told the court he has a son who was born in April with heart issues and was supposed to go for regular doctor’s appointments for two years.

But so far, the child has attended only one appointment, as there is no one to take the mother and child to the doctor.

“I am pleading with Your Honour for a lower sentence… I don’t want anything to happen to my child,” Fakaruddin said through an interpreter.

Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Terence Tay said there was a transnational element in the vape smuggling offence, and Fakaruddin had actively sought out the jobs.

The prosecution told the court that the last time a similar case of vape smuggling was heard was in May, as all such cases had been put on hold pending revised sentencing positions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

For attempting to leave Singapore illegally, Fakaruddin could have been jailed for up to six months and fined $2,000.

For each of the vape smuggling charges, he could have been jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000.