Malaysian food delivery rider caught smuggling over 100kg of chewing tobacco into Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint
A Malaysian food delivery rider has been sentenced to seven weeks’ jail after he was caught smuggling more than 100kg of chewing tobacco into Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint.
On 1 Dec 2025, the 24-year-old Mohamad Amirul Hakimi Zainal was approached by a friend identified in court documents as “Aman”, who asked him to drive a rental car into Singapore.
Aman later told him that the vehicle contained “chewy”, a slang term referring to chewing tobacco.
Caught at Woodlands Checkpoint during vehicle check
According to The Straits Times (ST), at around 7.20pm on the same day, Amirul was caught after checks were conducted on the rental car at Woodlands Checkpoint.
Source: Jeffrey Sun on Google Maps
Customs officers found and seized 380 packets of “Hans Chaap” chewing tobacco, which weighed a total of 117.4kg.
Possession and consumption of chewing tobacco is currently prohibited by law in Singapore.
Source: Health Sciences Authority, for illustrative purposes only
Arrested and charged for importing contraband
Amirul was arrested on the same day and subsequently charged in court on Dec 3.
He told the court that he had been instructed to drive to Bedok after clearing immigration, where he would contact Aman.
Aman would then send another person to collect and unload the illegal tobacco.
Once that was complete, Amirul would drive the car back across the causeway into Johor Bahru.
Court documents revealed that this was not his first such trip. Amirul had previously driven a rental car into Singapore at Aman’s request in Nov 2025.
Source: SG Courts
Sentenced to seven weeks in jail
On 5 Jan, Amirul appeared in court via video link and apologised for his actions, pleading for leniency.
When asked by District Judge Janet Wang if he had received payment for his role, he replied that “(Aman) promised me that he would give me something when I returned, so I held on to what he said.”
In delivering the sentence, Judge Wang noted that Amirul was not a first-time offender, given his earlier involvement in importing prohibited items.
She sentenced him to seven weeks’ imprisonment, which was backdated to the date of his initial arrest.
Under Singapore law, those convicted of importing illegal tobacco products can be fined up to S$10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.
Repeat offenders face harsher penalties of up to S$20,000 in fines, up to one year’s jail, or both.
Also read: M’sian man jailed for driving 5 passengers to S’pore & smuggling over S$42K of contraband cigarettes
M’sian man jailed for driving 5 passengers to S’pore & smuggling over S$42K of contraband cigarettes
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Featured image adapted from Jeffrey Sun on Google Maps.
