Jail for 5 Indonesians caught with illegal cigarettes on boat

Five Indonesian men were caught in April with 152 cartons of contraband cigarettes on a Singapore-registered tugboat in the waters near Kusu Island.

The mastermind of the crime, Ihsan Putra, 38, had intended to sell the cigarettes to crew members of vessels in Singapore's waters.

He had also engaged four fellow Indonesians to take part: Dorik Puguh Prayitno, 31; Apriau Russal Daputra, 32; Salmon Ampang, 34; and Linus Anthon, 36.

Yesterday, Ihsan was sentenced to four months and two weeks' jail after he admitted to two charges under the Customs Act.

The other four men, who pleaded guilty to similar charges, were each sentenced to four months' jail.

The cigarettes had an excise duty of nearly $21,000 while their goods and services tax came up to more than $1,500.

Before handing down the sentences, District Judge Marvin Bay said: "Deterrent sentences for such smuggling activities are all the more necessary given the heightened alert for Covid-19 that we are presently in.

"The hazards of illicit smuggling of contraband items from unknown and untraceable sources are all too obvious."

The court heard that on April 18, Ihsan contacted a supplier of contraband cigarettes, an Indonesian man known only as "Aji", and bought the loot from him at $35 per carton.

Ihsan, who wanted to sell the cigarettes for a profit of $50 per carton, then engaged the four other men to help him collect and distribute them. Ihsan also promised to share his profits equally with them.

At around 3am the next day, Apriau steered the Singapore-registered Tangkas tugboat towards Kusu Island to collect the cigarettes.

Four unknown Indonesian men then approached the tugboat on a motorised sampan.

They flung the cigarettes - which had been wrapped in trash bags - onto the tugboat.

After that, Linus and Salmon moved the cigarettes to the tugboat's engine room.

Ihsan and Dorik then concealed them in a manhole there.

Singapore's Police Coast Guard officers were on patrol in the country's southern waters at around 4am that day when they were alerted to monitor the tugboat as a sampan had earlier been spotted near it.

The officers boarded the tugboat later that morning and uncovered the contraband cigarettes.

The five men were arrested soon after.