A crew of 11 Indonesian men onboard two ferry boats arrived on the island in the early hours of May 22, and berthed alongside each other at Sungei Pandan.

On noticing the suspicious vessels, officers from the ICA Anti-Smuggling Team (AST), a specialised team of coastal officers, proceeded to conduct checks.

Found in the cabins and floating on the strip of water between the two boats, were several carton boxes wrapped in black plastic.

ICA AST officers confirmed that the carton boxes contained duty-unpaid cigarettes, and immediately detained the crew members.

They then continued with a thorough search of the vessels, which yielded a find of 2,850 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes.

1,350 cartons were hidden in the ceiling of the blower compartment located on the starboard side of one vessel, and another 1,500 cartons were in an empty man-hole of the other vessel.

The total unpaid duty and GST of the 2,850 cartons amounted to about $253,400.

Two of the crew members admitted to ownership of the $280,400 worth of illegal cigarettes. They also admitted to roping in the remaining crew for the illegal activity.

Both claimed that the contraband cigarettes were from the same contact in Indonesia, who instructed them to bring the contraband into Singapore. Here, they would then receive further instruction by phone to throw the cigarettes into the waters of Sungei Pandan.

The two were promised a reward of $10 for each carton of cigarettes if the smuggling attempt was successful.

The case has been referred to the Singapore Customs for further investigations.

Upon conviction by the court, first-time offenders can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded and liable to a jail term not exceeding three years.