Everyone loves a good haul. Whether it’s the supplies you bought while you were panic buying or a bunch of sushi that’s gone on sale after 8pm, it feels great to acquire a ton of stuff for yourself.
It seems like the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) feels similarly. On Tuesday (10 Mar), they took to their Facebook page to share the news about the nearly 4,000 packs of duty-unpaid cigarettes that they seized at Woodlands Checkpoint last week.
Check out the post below.
This is where the story becomes interesting, as the smugglers had to think of creative ways to bring in the items.
They decided to hide the cigarettes in concealed compartments in the cars. The cars were allegedly modified specifically to create these compartments.
From the photos, it looks like the car doors were hollowed out so cartons of cigarettes could be stored in them.
The cigarettes were found under the car seats too.
The bulk of the cigarettes were found under the cars’ hoods, as well as in the boot.
The cigarettes were seized on 2 separate occasions on 4 Mar and 5 Mar.
In total, the ICA confiscated 634 cartons of cigarettes, and 3,818 packets of cigarettes.
If you’re thinking “that doesn’t sound like a lot”, think again.
The cigarettes were arranged on tables, and look at the mountain they formed.
Wait, there’s more.
As all of the cigarettes were apparently duty-unpaid, it suggested that the smugglers intended to sell them cheaply in Singapore.
The 3 people involved in the smuggling attempts were a 28-year-old man, 29-year-old woman and 45-year-old woman, all Malaysians. Their cases have since been referred to Singapore Customs for “further investigation”, said ICA.
ICA also mentioned that the method used in the smuggling attempts were of concern, as it’s possible that modified car compartment could be used to smuggle other items that would pose a higher security risk, like firearms or weapons.
Naturally, that would be dangerous to the residents of Singapore.
In the post, the ICA said it will continue to meticulously conduct security checks like this on all travellers and vehicles passing through Singapore’s borders.
We are appreciative of our protectors for their fantastic work in safeguarding Singapore, and hope Singaporeans will be proud of them too.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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