HSA seizes record $200,000 worth of illegal chewing tobacco in Woodlands warehouse

SINGAPORE - An ambush at a storage facility in Woodlands on Feb 19 led the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) to its largest seizure of chewing tobacco since it was formed in 2001.

The authority said in a statement on Thursday that it seized more than 118,000 sachets of chewing tobacco worth about $200,000 in the operation.

In the operation, a man who was pushing a trolley with wrapped bundles out of the storage facility was also arrested. The bundles were later found to contain chewing tobacco.

The HSA did not give any details about the man.

Preliminary investigations showed that the chewing tobacco was meant for supply to the Little India and Tuas areas, the HSA said.

It is illegal to import, distribute and sell chewing tobacco in Singapore, including purchases made through overseas Internet websites, the HSA added.

In another operation on the same day, HSA officers arrested a 48-year-old Singaporean peddler who was selling e-vaporisers and associated accessories on messaging platform WeChat.

Banned items worth about $50,000, comprising more than 3,600 e-vaporisers and accessories, were later found in his vehicle and home, the HSA said.

The man is believed to have bought the e-vaporisers and accessories from overseas and is assisting the HSA in investigations.

E-vaporisers are banned under the same law which prohibits chewing tobacco. Those found guilty can be jailed up to six months, fined up to $10,000, or both for the first offence.

The maximum punishment for subsequent offences is double that for the first offence.