SINGAPORE: Two Malaysian men have been charged for trying to smuggle about 3,200 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden in a passenger bus and prime mover into Singapore.
In a news release on Wednesday (Oct 16), Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said that the cigarettes were found concealed in the arriving Malaysian-registered vehicles at Tuas Checkpoint on Saturday and Monday.
“In both cases, ICA officers had noticed anomalies in the scanned images of the vehicles and directed them for further checks,” ICA said.
The cigarettes were found in a passenger bus and a prime mover. (Photo: Immigration and Checkpoints Authority)
In the first case on Saturday morning, officers found 925 cartons of cigarettes hidden in the modified compartment under the floorboard of a passenger bus.
The vehicle, which was occupied by several passengers headed for Singapore, was driven by a 28-year-old Malaysian man.
In the second case early on Monday morning, a prime mover driven by a 29-year-old Malaysian man was found to have 2,278 cartons of cigarettes hidden in the modified roof compartment of an empty container.
“The total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the two cases amounted to total of about S$291,470 and S$21,400 respectively,” ICA said.
