The haul of duty-unpaid cigarettes, with taxes that would have amounted $468,000, was found on three separate buses at the Tuas Checkpoint, said the ICA. -- PHOTO: ICA
IMMIGRATION officers seized more than 1.1 million sticks of contraband cigarettes in three separate raids over the past week.
The haul of duty-unpaid cigarettes, with taxes that would have amounted $468,000, was found on three separate buses at the Tuas Checkpoint, said an Immigration and Checkpoints authority (ICA) statement on Tuesday.
In the first case last Wednesday at 4.30pm, officers noticed an unusually low luggage compartment in a bus. A scan of the vehicle revealed anomalies in the floorboard area. When the floorboards were pried open, officers found 200 cartons of cigarettes.
The next day at about 9.10pm, officers found another 200 cartons of cigarettes hidden under the roof of a bus.
On Monday at about midnight, officers found 200 cartons of cigarettes from the floorboard of a bus. The fresh coat of paint, coupled with new rubber mats and carpets and the smell of fresh glue, had aroused the suspicion of immigration officers.
All three suspects , who were the bus drivers, were detained.
If convicted, first time offenders can be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of duty evaded. Subsequent offenders may be fined and jailed up to two years.
ICA said five cases of contraband smuggling involving buses through land checkpoints were busted in the first nine months this year.
