Man arrested after nearly 6,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes found in lorry at Tuas Checkpoint
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Nearly 6,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found concealed in the Malaysia-registered lorry.
PHOTOS: ICA
SINGAPORE – A 33-year-old Malaysian man was arrested following an attempt to smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore via a Malaysia-registered lorry.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a July 17 Facebook post that its officers had detected “anomalies” in a Malaysia-registered lorry headed into Singapore via Tuas Checkpoint on July 11.
Checks found thousands of cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed within the consignment, said ICA.
In response to The Straits Times’ queries, Singapore Customs said that a total of 5,996 cartons of cigarettes were found. The lorry was also seized by the authorities.
The duty and goods and services tax (GST) evaded amounted to about $649,474, said Singapore Customs, which added that court proceedings are ongoing.
Singapore Customs reminded members of the public that buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act.
Offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, and jailed for up to six years.
Vehicles used in committing such offences are liable to be forfeited.
