IMMIGRATION authorities seized more than 70,000 sticks of contraband cigarettes hidden among cartons of frozen fish early on Tuesday.
Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) officers manning the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection system at the Tuas checkpoint noticed some abnormalities in the image of a Malaysia-registered refrigerated truck, an ICA statement said.
The consignment, declared as 630 cartons of frozen fish, was driven by a 33-year-old Malaysian man.
Upon further inspection, officers noticed several unmarked boxes packed differently from the rest of the consignment. Officers subsequently found an array of contraband cigarettes hidden in the unmarked boxes.
In all, ICA officers discovered 71 unmarked boxes. A total of 3,720 cartons, comprising of over 700,000 sticks of cigarettes were retrieved. The total customs duty and GST payable on the tobacco amounted to $305,000 and $25,600 respectively.
The driver and his companions, aged 27 and 29, were handed to Customs for further investigations.
