More than 10,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden among kitchen towels, toilet rolls and printer parts

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers uncovered more than 10,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden among printer parts, kitchen towels and toilet rolls at Tuas Checkpoint on Oct 24.

The cigarettes were found concealed in two Malaysia-registered cargo trucks at Tuas Checkpoint on Oct 24 after ICA officers directed the trucks for further checks.

The first case was detected at around 5.15am involved a Malaysia-registered cargo truck carrying a consignment declared as printer parts. A total of 5,044 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found hidden amongst boxes of printer parts.

About four hours later, another Malaysia-registered cargo truck carrying a consignment declared as tissue paper was found to have 5,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden amongst the kitchen towels and toilet rolls.

ICA said in a statement on Oct 25 that both Malaysian drivers, aged 27 and 37 years old, were handed over to the Singapore Customs for further investigations.

The total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the two cases amounted to about $857,750 and $63,240 respectively.

Investigations are ongoing.