5,026 Cartons Of Cigarettes Hidden Inside Lorry At Tuas Checkpoint, Driver Charged In Court

5,026 Cartons Of Duty-Unpaid Cigarettes Found Hidden Inside Lorry Bed By ICA Officers

Due to our strict laws on contraband items and hawk-eyed officers, it’s no wonder that people try increasingly creative ways to bring in stuff.

The latest attempt involved people attempting to smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore inside a compartment of an innocuous-looking lorry.

Too bad for them, officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) sniffed them out, and uncovered a massive haul of 5,026 cartons and 10 packets of the cigarettes.

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Lorry entered via Tuas Checkpoint

In a press release on Tuesday (18 Aug), the ICA said the Malaysia-registered lorry attempted to enter Singapore via the Tuas Checkpoint at about 2.20am on 13 Aug.

It was carrying a consignment of precast concrete.

From the photo provided by the ICA, it didn’t look much different from any of the other lorries carrying stuff into Singapore every day.

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Anomalies noticed in lorry

For some reason, though, the sharp-eyed ICA officers noticed something weird about the lorry.

The statement said the officers noticed “anomalies” around its exterior.

Acting on their suspicions, they pried open a section of the lorry bed.

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What they saw were boxes of cigarettes of the brand “Double Happiness”.

Don’t think the discovery brought much happiness to the driver of the lorry, though.

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Driver charged in court

The driver of the lorry was a 47-year-old Malaysian.

The driver has already been charged in court, and court proceedings are ongoing, said the ICA.

If he was successful in bringing the cigarettes into Singapore, the duties evaded would have amounted to $429,310.

The Goods and Services Tax evaded would have been a total of $34,760.

It pays to be vigilant

Kudos to the observant ICA officers who managed to discern something “off” about the lorry, when most of us wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss.

While duty-unpaid cigarettes may not be the most dangerous of items, future smugglers may use similar methods to bring in more threatening items like drugs or weapons.

Thus, it’s necessary for those safeguarding our borders to be vigilant of all cargo brought into Singapore.

Featured images adapted from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority.