3 arrested for allegedly evading over $936k in cigarette duties and taxes

Three men were arrested for allegedly evading more than $936,000 in cigarette duties and taxes following enforcement operations earlier in May.

In a media statement on May 22, Singapore Customs said officers seized a lorry, 8,642 cartons and one packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes during operations on May 9 and 10 in Bukit Batok Crescent and Tampines Industrial Crescent.

The total duty and goods and services tax (GST) evaded amounted to about $936,093, the statement added.

On May 9, Customs officers observed a 39-year-old Chinese national pushing a trolley loaded with brown boxes towards a parked lorry at an industrial building in Bukit Batok Crescent.

Two other men - a 25-year-old Singapore permanent resident and a 33-year-old Chinese national - were also seen transferring boxes into the lorry.

When officers moved in to conduct checks, the 39-year-old man fled in a van but was later nabbed at a carpark in Lorong 25A Geylang.

A total of 4,320 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes, along with a consignment of stretch film, were found in the lorry, at the industrial building's lift lobby and in one of the units.

A search of the 33-year-old man's residence uncovered an additional two cartons and a packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes.

Investigations revealed that the 39-year-old man had allegedly been engaged by an unknown individual to deliver boxes of duty-unpaid cigarettes from a warehouse in Tampines Industrial Crescent to Bukit Batok Crescent.

The 25-year-old was believed to have been separately hired to drive the lorry and assist the 33-year-old in delivering the duty-unpaid cigarettes to customers.

Singapore Customs conducted a follow-up operation on May 10 at a warehouse in Tampines Industrial Crescent, where officers discovered another 4,320 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed within six pallets, along with another consignment of stretch film.

All three men were arrested, and court proceedings are ongoing.

In its statement, Singapore Customs reminded the public that buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act.

Offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, jailed for up to six years or both. Vehicles used in such offences may also be forfeited.

Members of the public with information on smuggling activities or evasion of duty or GST can report it at https://go.gov.sg/reportcustomsoffence