8,580 cartons of illicit cigs found hidden in concrete blocks, lorry; six arrested
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Duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed in a hollow compartment of concrete blocks at a storage yard in Penjuru Walk last Thursday. The total duty and goods and services tax evaded on the cartons seized in the raid amounted to about $732,730 and $58,780 respectively.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE CUSTOMS
Yeo Shu Hui
The authorities have seized 8,580 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden in concrete blocks and a lorry.
Six men - five Malaysians and one Indonesian aged between 22 and 37 - have been arrested in a joint operation by the Singapore Customs and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
The Singapore Customs said in a statement yesterday that their officers launched an operation last Thursday evening at a storage yard in Penjuru Walk.
They saw several men entering the yard and dismantling concrete blocks with sledgehammers to retrieve what were suspected to be cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes from a hollow compartment of the smashed blocks.
As the men loaded the cartons onto a Singapore-registered lorry, officers moved in to raid the premises and arrested them. The lorry was also seized.
The total duty and goods and services tax (GST) evaded on the cartons amounted to about $732,730 and $58,780 respectively.
Court proceedings against the six men are ongoing, said Singapore Customs.
Under the Customs Act and the GST Act, it is an offence to buy, sell, convey, deliver, store, keep, have in possession or deal with duty-unpaid goods.
Offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or jailed for up to six years. Vehicles used in committing such offences may be forfeited.
Anyone with information on smuggling activities or evasion of Customs duty or GST can call the Singapore Customs hotline on 1800-233-0000 or e-mail customs_ intelligence@customs.gov.sg to report these illegal activities.
Yeo Shu Hui
