SINGAPORE - "Ice" worth more than $75,000 and 2,524 cartons of contraband cigarettes were seized at Tuas checkpoint in separate incidents on the same day.
At about 6am on Saturday (Oct 22), Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers, while inspecting a Malaysia-registered bus driven by a 34-year-old Malaysian man, found the cigarettes in modified compartments of the bus.
The driver, bus and cigarettes were handed to Singapore Customs for further investigation. The potential duty and GST amounted to $195,860 and $19,710 respectively.
At 9.40pm on the same day, ICA officers inspecting a Malaysia-registered motorcycle ridden by a Malaysian man, 32, noticed a bag containing three-in-one coffee mix sachets in the vehicle's centre basket.
A packet of "Ice", or methamphetamine, weighing about 500g was found hidden among sachets in the bag.
Both the rider and drugs were referred to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
The suspected intended recipient of the drugs, a 37-year-old Malaysian man, was arrested at Jurong West Avenue 1 later. A Malaysian woman, 33, who is a suspected drug abuser, was also arrested. Investigations are ongoing.
Drug traffickers face the death penalty if the amount of "Ice" trafficked exceeds 250g.
