On 11 March 2019, at about 1.30pm, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers conducted checks on a 40-footer container at a warehouse in Tuas Ave 3. The container was earlier presented for clearance at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station, where officers detected anomalies in the scanned images of the consignment declared to contain ten “Game Machines”. The container was sealed for checks at the trader’s premises.

2.         During the course of checks, the officers noticed the game machines were locked. This further aroused the officers’ suspicion and they proceeded to pry open a game machine for closer examination. Officers found the interior of the game machine to be hollow and contained duty-unpaid cigarettes wrapped in several black bundles.

3.         A total of 6,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized. The total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded amounted to about $512,400 and $37,780 respectively. The case was handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigation.

4.         Safeguarding Singapore’s borders remains ICA’s top priority. ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers, cargos and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands across our borders. The same methods of concealment used by contraband smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore.

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
13 MARCH 2019

Photos

The game machines which were used to conceal the duty-unpaid cigarettes [Photo: ICA]


Duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed within specially-hollowed game machines [Photos: ICA]