Chinese national jailed for duty-unpaid cigarette activities | The New Paper
Singapore

Chinese national jailed for duty-unpaid cigarette activities

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Four men were nabbed and more than 1,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized following two related operations mounted by Singapore Customs officers on Monday and Tuesday.

Chinese national Xu Songxin, 32, and three Singaporeans were arrested in the operations, and a total of 1,024 cartons and 710 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized.

These amounted to about $96,140 of duty and $7,060 of goods and services tax evaded, said the Singapore Customs in a statement yesterday.

On Monday, Customs officers saw Xu leaving a unit in a Holland Road condominium and moved in to check him. They later searched his room in the unit, where they found 260 cartons and 421 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes. He was arrested and the items were seized.

A related investigation led Customs officers to launch another operation the next day.

They tailed a car to a Jurong West Street 41 carpark and saw the male driver parking the vehicle next to a van.

Two other men then approached the vehicles to transfer a box from the van to the car.

Officers found 764 cartons and 289 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes in the two vehicles. 

COURT & CRIME