ICA on Wednesday uncovered the largest haul of contraband cigarettes for the year so far.
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers found a total of 8,110 cartons of cigarettes under a meticulously bundled stack of timber logs at the Woodlands Checkpoint on Dec 23.
The cigarettes were transported in via a Malaysian-registered lorry driven by a 36-year-old Malaysian Indian male.
He denied knowledge of the stowaway cigarettes, and claimed that he was instructed by his boss to send the consignment to Defu Lane.
ICA estimates the potential Customs duty and GST payable for the contrabands to be about $571,000 and $51,700 respectively.
The case has been referred to Singapore Customs for further investigations.
First-time offenders can be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of duty invaded. For second or subsequent convictions, offenders can be jailed for up to two years, and fined.
