Man caught smuggling 3 puppies, duck eggs at Woodlands Checkpoint: ICA

SINGAPORE - A 58-year-old man who tried to smuggle three puppies into Singapore was caught by immigration officers at Woodlands Checkpoint on Feb 17.

In a Facebook post on Friday (Feb 22), the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said that the puppies were hidden in a basket covered by layers of carpet in the man's Singapore-registered car.

A keychain that resembled a bullet and 20 duck eggs were also seized from the car.

ICA has referred the case to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) for further investigations, as the man did not possess an import permit and valid health certificates.

One of the puppies died while the other two have been quarantined by AVA. The duck eggs have also been destroyed, ICA said.

The bullet-shaped keychain has also been referred to the Singapore Police Force for investigation.

In its Facebook post, ICA said that smuggled animals are of unknown health status and may introduce exotic diseases such as rabies into our country. Illegally imported food products have unknown sources as well, the authority added.

"Apart from food safety concerns, we have to remain vigilant to prevent diseases such as bird flu from being introduced into Singapore through such food products," ICA said.

"The ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles to prevent smuggling attempts of undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives or other contraband."