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A 47-year-old Malaysian man was arrested by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers on Dec 23 for attempting to smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint.<\/p>\n
ICA said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Jan 7) that the Malaysia-registered car driven by the man was directed for enhanced checks where its search and examination officers found over 420 cartons and 1,600 loose packets of duty unpaid cigarettes.<\/p>\n
In the video posted by ICA, its officers were seen removing the contraband items from the car’s roof cargo box and various compartments of the car, including the door panel.<\/p>\n
The driver was arrested and the case has been referred to the Singapore Customs for further investigation.<\/p>\n
In an advisory on Nov 17<\/a>, ICA had warned travellers that it will be conducting more intensified checks against the smuggling of e-vaporisers and contraband items during the year-end school holidays.<\/p>\n A similar warning<\/a> was also issued ahead of the year-end festive period on Dec 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n Buying, selling, conveying, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are considered serious offences under the Customs Act and the Goods and Services Tax Act.<\/p>\n If convicted, offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded, jailed for up to six years, or both.<\/p>\n Vehicles used in these offences and proceeds of sales of duty-unpaid goods may also be forfeited.<\/p>\n [[nid:727761]]<\/p>\n