Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Singapore Customs have foiled an attempt to smuggle some 9,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes in an inbound-container on April 21.<\/p>\n
In a news release on Monday (May 11), the law enforcement agencies said the 20-foot container was targeted for enhanced checks at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station based on a risk assessment conducted by ICA’s Integrated Targeting Centre and Customs’ data analytics.<\/p>\n
The container, with its consignment of goods declared as “Smart LED bulb”, was instead found with 9,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes during further checks.<\/p>\n
According to Customs, the estimated value of the duty-unpaid cigarettes seized is about $1,168,675.<\/p>\n
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The agencies warned would-be perpetrators that they leverage on technology and data analytics as part of their targeting and detection capabilities.<\/p>\n
Buying, selling, conveying, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the Goods and Services Tax Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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