On 2 May 2020, at about 6.00 am, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station conducted checks on a 20-foot container and found more than 11,180 cartons and 200 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden within the consignment.

2.         The officers’ suspicions were aroused when they noticed anomalies in the scanned images of the consignment declared as “electrical control panels”.   The case was handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigation. 

3.         The total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded amounted to about $954,772 and $77,305.23 respectively. Investigations are ongoing.

4.         Safeguarding Singapore’s borders remains ICA’s top priority. 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. 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.

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
12 May 2020

Photos

The container was scanned at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station. (Photo: ICA)


Duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden within the consignment. (Photo: ICA)


A total of 11,180 cartons and 200 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes were uncovered. (Photo: ICA)