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Tourism 101 - How not to make up for falling tourist arrivals
The tourism landscape of Singapore has evolved over the years. In recent years, Singapore has undisputedly been rising internationally, and making its mark as a tourism hub, exciting not just foreign travelers but also, the locals. Tuas Checkpoint, being one of the land border crossings, handles countless busloads of holiday making tourists arriving from Malaysia onto our sunny island. Brimming with smiles and arming with their cameras, they are set to undercover the beauty of this sun-kissed city-state. You may wonder, what hidden secrets do these holiday makers have? Well, these secrets might be even kept unknown to them because syndicates are making use of their ignorance and the holidaying mood as a smokescreen in a bid to fool our officers. In the mere 2 days, ICA officers at Tuas Checkpoint, detected 2 cases of tour buses, stashed with contraband cigarettes.
2 On 25 Feb 09, at around 1345 hrs, a Malaysia registered bus, driven by a male Malaysian Indian was stopped for a thorough check as officers were alerted by his suspicious behaviour. Using the Z-Backscatter Van, the bus was scanned by our officers and true to their instinct, there were anomalies observed along the ceiling air-con duct.
3 Having confirmed that there was something amiss, officers proceeded to conduct a thorough check on the bus looking out for secret compartments while focusing on the air-con duct areas. Their efforts were rewarded after discovering a secret compartment at the end of the air-con duct, where they uncovered contraband cigarettes.
You would never guess you are traveling with these cigarettes
4 A total of 749 cartons and 6 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were retrieved from the secret compartment. The potential customs duty and GST involved on the duty-unpaid cigarettes amount to about $52,800 and $4,800 respectively.
Total exhibits uncovered
5 When questioned, the driver claimed that he was ferrying the bus load of China tourists to Singapore where they would be transferred to another local bus before he would then drive the bus back to Malaysia. Officers after establishing that the tourists were not in anyway involved in this smuggling attempt, made subsequent facilitative arrangements for them to board a local bus to continue their travel in Singapore.
6 The very next day, at about 1140 hrs, ICA officers at Tuas Checkpoint outwitted another smuggling syndicate. This time, a Singapore-registered bus, was being directed for further inspection when the ICA officers found the undercarriage at the rear of the bus seemed unusually low.
7 Without having to physically examine the bus, the Z-Backscatter Van was again deployed to scan the vehicle. True enough, the suspicion of our officers was fortified when the images showed anomalies below the floorboard at the rear end of the bus. Another round of vehicle scanning at the VACIS portal again confirmed the presence of anomalies at the same area of the bus.
Before and after….
8 At this point, the officers wasted no time and launched into a thorough inspection of the vehicle. Their efforts were rewarded when the sharp-eyed officers caught sight of a small horizontal gap at the undercarriage which revealed signs of cigarettes packaging. After arduously prying open the rear portion of the floorboard, officer gained access into the secret compartment that had stashed a total of 2,047 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes. The potential Customs duty and GST payable for the contrabands amount to about $144,100 and $12,900 respectively.
9 He averred that he had just ferried a group of 12 travellers to Malaysia in the morning and was returning back to Singapore. He claimed that he would receive a call from his employer on an appropriate location to park the bus.
furits of labour after the tedious uncovering process
10 Both cases were referred to Singapore Customs for further investigations. Upon conviction by the court, first time offenders can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded and liable to a jail term not exceeding three years. For second or subsequent convictions, offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded and jailed for up to six years. The offenders also face further fines based on the amount of GST evaded. The buses used in conveying this contraband will also be liable for forfeiture.
11 Under the Customs Act as well as the Immigration Act, vehicles used in the smuggling of contraband items or illegal immigrants will be seized and are liable to be forfeited. It is the responsibility of logistics companies and bus owners operating across the borders to ensure that their vehicles are not used for smuggling unlawful goods or persons into Singapore as they would ultimately have to bear the cost of their employees’ wrongdoings.
12 Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security. The enhanced security checks are critical to our nation’s security. We have tightened our security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands.
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
27 February 2009
2 On 25 Feb 09, at around 1345 hrs, a Malaysia registered bus, driven by a male Malaysian Indian was stopped for a thorough check as officers were alerted by his suspicious behaviour. Using the Z-Backscatter Van, the bus was scanned by our officers and true to their instinct, there were anomalies observed along the ceiling air-con duct.
3 Having confirmed that there was something amiss, officers proceeded to conduct a thorough check on the bus looking out for secret compartments while focusing on the air-con duct areas. Their efforts were rewarded after discovering a secret compartment at the end of the air-con duct, where they uncovered contraband cigarettes.
You would never guess you are traveling with these cigarettes
4 A total of 749 cartons and 6 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were retrieved from the secret compartment. The potential customs duty and GST involved on the duty-unpaid cigarettes amount to about $52,800 and $4,800 respectively.
Total exhibits uncovered
5 When questioned, the driver claimed that he was ferrying the bus load of China tourists to Singapore where they would be transferred to another local bus before he would then drive the bus back to Malaysia. Officers after establishing that the tourists were not in anyway involved in this smuggling attempt, made subsequent facilitative arrangements for them to board a local bus to continue their travel in Singapore.
6 The very next day, at about 1140 hrs, ICA officers at Tuas Checkpoint outwitted another smuggling syndicate. This time, a Singapore-registered bus, was being directed for further inspection when the ICA officers found the undercarriage at the rear of the bus seemed unusually low.
7 Without having to physically examine the bus, the Z-Backscatter Van was again deployed to scan the vehicle. True enough, the suspicion of our officers was fortified when the images showed anomalies below the floorboard at the rear end of the bus. Another round of vehicle scanning at the VACIS portal again confirmed the presence of anomalies at the same area of the bus.
Before and after….
8 At this point, the officers wasted no time and launched into a thorough inspection of the vehicle. Their efforts were rewarded when the sharp-eyed officers caught sight of a small horizontal gap at the undercarriage which revealed signs of cigarettes packaging. After arduously prying open the rear portion of the floorboard, officer gained access into the secret compartment that had stashed a total of 2,047 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes. The potential Customs duty and GST payable for the contrabands amount to about $144,100 and $12,900 respectively.
9 He averred that he had just ferried a group of 12 travellers to Malaysia in the morning and was returning back to Singapore. He claimed that he would receive a call from his employer on an appropriate location to park the bus.
furits of labour after the tedious uncovering process
10 Both cases were referred to Singapore Customs for further investigations. Upon conviction by the court, first time offenders can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded and liable to a jail term not exceeding three years. For second or subsequent convictions, offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded and jailed for up to six years. The offenders also face further fines based on the amount of GST evaded. The buses used in conveying this contraband will also be liable for forfeiture.
11 Under the Customs Act as well as the Immigration Act, vehicles used in the smuggling of contraband items or illegal immigrants will be seized and are liable to be forfeited. It is the responsibility of logistics companies and bus owners operating across the borders to ensure that their vehicles are not used for smuggling unlawful goods or persons into Singapore as they would ultimately have to bear the cost of their employees’ wrongdoings.
12 Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security. The enhanced security checks are critical to our nation’s security. We have tightened our security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands.
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
27 February 2009