Arrests of immigration offenders, on a downtrend since 2001, fell from 3,110 in 2011 to 2,580 last year.

This was down to the deterrent effect of thorough examinations and tightened security at the checkpoints to sieve out these suspects, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) today.

The arrests of harbourers of immigration offenders, however, almost doubled from 40 in 2011 to 77 last year. Similarly, the number of employers of immigration offenders nabbed by the ICA also increased from 23 to 41 over the same period.

The number of contraband cases detected has been on an upward trend, with the peak of 80,800 cases detected in 2011.

But the number registered a slight dip of 600 cases, from 80,800 in 2011 to 80,200 last year.