SINGAPORE: More than 9,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized on Tuesday (May 7), the largest haul in 2019 to date.
In a press release on Friday, Singapore Customs said that the cigarettes were seized in two related operations conducted in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 and Defu Lane 10 on Tuesday.
A total of 9,089 cartons and 18 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized in the operations. The total duty evaded was about S$870,010 while the Goods and Services Tax (GST) amounted to about S$63,660, said Singapore Customs.
Cash of S$3,300, suspected proceeds from the sale of duty-unpaid cigarettes, and the two trucks were also seized, it said.
On Tuesday evening, a team of Singapore Customs officers inspected a Singapore-registered truck in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2, where 3,011 cartons and 10 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found. The driver and another man who was in the passenger seat were arrested.
Some 3,011 cartons and 10 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found in the truck in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 on May 7, 2019. (Photo: Singapore Customs)
At the same time, another team of officers conducted a search of another Singapore-registered truck that was parked in Defu Lane 10, where they uncovered 6,076 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes and arrested the third suspect.
Some 6,076 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found in the truck in Defu Lane 10 on May 7, 2019. (Photo: Singapore Customs)
A follow-up search was conducted in one of the men’s flat in Bukit Batok West Avenue 6, where officers uncovered two cartons and eight packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes.
Investigations showed that the three men communicated via WeChat to load and deliver duty-unpaid cigarettes, and that the cigarettes found in the truck at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 were transferred from the truck parked in Defu Lane 10.
Court proceedings against the three men are ongoing.
