Duty-unpaid cigarettes found stored in freezers at Jurong eatery, 4 men jailed or fined

More than 740 duty-unpaid cigarettes found stored in freezers at Jurong eatery

Four Chinese nationals have been either jailed or fined after duty-unpaid cigarettes were found in an eatery in Jurong.

The contraband was stored in various freezers on the premises, said Singapore Customs in a Facebook post on Thursday (4 June).

‘Frozen’ cigarettes found in Jurong eatery

The discovery was made on 12 May, when Singapore Customs conducted an enforcement operation at the eatery in Jurong East Avenue 1.

Eventually, over 740 packets of contraband were seized, with the agency describing the cigarettes as “frozen”.

Photos showed the packets inside plastic bags and placed among other items in the freezers.

2 men fined & 2 men jailed

Nabbed for the offence were four male Chinese nationals, aged between 43 and 47 years old, who were working at the eatery.

Two of them were fined with composition sums.

The other two were arrested, charged, and eventually sentenced to prison terms of 66 days and 18 days respectively.

Under the Customs Act and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing, or dealing in duty-unpaid cigarettes are serious offences.

Those convicted of offences involving duty-unpaid goods can be fined up to 40 times the amount of tax evaded and/or jailed for up to six years.

Employers should check for contraband at company premises

Singapore Customs reminded employers to exercise due diligence by checking that their company premises and facilities are not used to store duty-unpaid cigarettes.

The risk is “simply not worth it”, it noted, adding:

Duty-unpaid cigarettes may be cheap, but their consequences are costly.

57,000 contraband smuggling attempts foiled in 2025

In February, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) noted a significant increase in contraband smuggling attempts in its Annual Statistics for 2025.

The authorities foiled 57,400 such cases last year — a 30.6% jump from the 43,900 in 2024.

Several cases involved the smuggling of contraband cigarettes in cars with modified compartments or concealed among other goods in lorries, it added.

Also read: S’poreans arrested for selling duty-unpaid cigarettes at food stall & void deck

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Featured image adapted from Singapore Customs on Facebook.