Four men arrested as largest haul of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized
Singapore Customs seized its largest haul of duty-unpaid cigarettes in a single operation this year, arresting four men on May 27 and seizing 17,250 cartons of the cigarettes.
It said in a press release yesterday that Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers had spotted something suspicious in the scanned images of a consignment in a container attached to a prime mover. They then uncovered duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed inside metal cabinets in the container.
The case was handed over to Singapore Customs who conducted an operation at an industrial building in Yishun Street 23, where three men were arrested. During the operation, officers observed a man using a forklift to remove metal cabinets from a container.
Meanwhile, two other men were removing carton boxes containing duty-unpaid cigarettes from 16 metal cabinets before loading them back into the container.
On the same day, another 35-year-old man was also arrested.
The four men were charged in court on May 29 and court proceedings are ongoing.
The previous largest haul this year was on May 2 at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station where 11,180 cartons of duty- unpaid cigarettes were seized.
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