ICA 'gets to the bottom of things' with over 7,400 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden in trucks

Two men were caught smuggling a total of 7,484 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes in two Malaysia-registered trucks at Tuas Checkpoint in the wee hours of June 28.

In a news release, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said that officers had directed an unladen Malaysia-registered cargo truck for checks at the checkpoint's arrival zone at around 2am.

Black polythene boxes, which contained duty-unpaid cigarettes, were found to be concealed below the floorboard of the truck.

Less than an hour later at 2.50am, ICA officers directed another unladen Malaysia-registered cargo truck for checks.

Similarly, black polythene packages containing duty-unpaid cigarettes were discovered beneath the floorboard.

"Both male Malaysian drivers, aged 35 and 42 years old, duty-unpaid cigarettes and vehicles were handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigations," added ICA.

"The vehicles used in the commission of such offences is liable to be forfeited."

According to ICA, the duty and Goods and Services Tax of the duty-unpaid cigarettes for the two cases amounted to about $702,927 and $51,240 respectively.

ICA also shared photos of the cigarettes on its Facebook page in a post titled 'Getting to the bottom of things'.

https://www.facebook.com/Immigration.Checkpoints.Authority/posts/6786969...