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Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers “flagged down” a Malaysia-registered taxi at Woodlands Checkpoint on April 3, but not because they needed a ride.<\/p>\n
Pictures posted by ICA on its social media show a yellow cross-border taxi and a haversack filled with e-vaporisers.<\/p>\n
ICA said that the vehicle, driven by a 70-year-old Malaysian man, with two passengers aged 28 and 72, was profiled and directed for enhanced checks.<\/p>\n
During the checks, ICA’s search and examination officers found over 40 e-vaporisers and related components, and 26 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes in the haversack of the 28-year-old male Singaporean passenger.<\/p>\n
He was arrested and the cases referred to the Health Sciences Authority and Singapore Customs respectively.<\/p>\n
Parliament on March 6 passed new anti-vaping laws, which will come into force on May 1.<\/p>\n
Under the amendments to the Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act, renamed from the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, vape users can be fined up to $10,000 from May 1 \u2014 five times the current amount; while sellers face fines of up to $200,000. Smugglers can be slapped with fines of up to $300,000 \u2014 30 times the current amount.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, buying, selling, conveying, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the Goods and Services Tax Act. Offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded, jailed for up to six years, or both.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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