ICA foils 2 vape smuggling attempts within 4 hours, 16,000 e-cigarettes seized

ICA officers foil 2 vape smuggling attempts within 4 hours on 2 Feb

It’s not uncommon to hear about Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers uncovering contraband items on vehicles entering Singapore.

2 Feb, however, turned out to be a particularly ‘eventful’ day for officers at Tuas Checkpoint.

In a matter of hours, they foiled two attempts to smuggle contraband e-vaporisers through Malaysia-registered lorries.

Source: Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook

More than 16,000 pieces of e-vaporisers were seized from both vehicles.

ICA officers find vapes in lorries carrying bars and aluminium rods

According to a Facebook post by the ICA on Thursday (21 March), the two smuggling attempts happened within four hours of each other at Tuas Checkpoint.

Both incidents happened on the night of 2 Feb and involved Malaysia-registered lorries entering Singapore.

In the first case, ICA officers detected anomalies in the scanned image of a lorry carrying consignments of bars and aluminium rods.

Source: Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook

Further checks revealed 9,790 pieces of assorted e-vaporises hidden in the lorry cabin.

Source: Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook

The contraband items were hidden in boxes wrapped in black plastic and covered with blankets.

Source: Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook

More than 16,000 e-vaporisers seized from both vape smuggling attempts

The second case also involved a lorry, but this time, it was carrying a load of security seals.

Source: Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook

Upon conducting further checks, ICA officers found 6,224 pieces of e-vaporisers concealed in boxes in the middle section of the container.

Source: Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook

The ICA has referred both cases to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for further investigations.

Earlier this year, ICA officers found e-vaporisers on 177 people at Changi Airport. 61 of them were issued fines.

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Featured image adapted from Immigration & Checkpoints Authority on Facebook.

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