SINGAPORE - A total of 4,000 electronic vaporisers and related accessories worth more than $60,000 have been seized by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a joint operation.

These illegal items were seized at Woodlands Checkpoint on Jan 23 and the homes of five suspected peddlers, the HSA and ICA said in a joint statement on Thursday (Feb 6).

All five suspects, who are between 20 and 27 years old, are assisting in the investigations.

ICA officers found more than 2,000 e-vaporisers, e-vaporiser cartridges and bottled e-liquids hidden in various compartments of an arriving car at Woodlands Checkpoint on Jan 23.

The ICA informed the HSA, which subsequently arrested five suspected peddlers who were awaiting the delivery of the illegal items in the eastern part of Singapore. More e-vaporiser related items were found in their homes.

E-vaporisers, which include e-cigarettes and e-cigars, are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid which contains nicotine to produce a vapour that is then inhaled.

Anyone found guilty of selling, importing or distributing e-vaporisers can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.

At least 20 people have been prosecuted for selling e-vaporisers in the past five years, with a 35-year-old man fined $99,000 by the HSA in September 2019, to date the highest amount for the offence.

Since Feb 1, 2018, those caught using, buying or in possession of e-vaporisers can also be fined up to $2,000.

Those with information on the illegal importation or sale of e-vaporisers can call HSA's Tobacco Regulation Branch on 6684-2036 or 6684-2037.