SINGAPORE: More than 389 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers last Friday (Jun 21) in two attempted smuggling cases at Woodlands Checkpoint.
Two Singaporean men, aged 30 and 44 years old, were handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigation after the cigarettes were found.
The cigarettes were hidden in various modified compartments in the arriving Singapore-registered cars, ICA said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Photos provided by ICA showed the cigarettes stashed in places such as the cars’ dashboard, rear-side panel, door panel and front bumper.
Duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed within modified rear-side panel (Photo: ICA)
Duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed within modified door-panel (Photo: ICA)
“The same methods of concealment used by smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore,” ICA said.
“Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore’s security.
“ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles to prevent smuggling attempts of undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands.”
Duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed within modified front bumper (Photo: ICA)
