SAF driver jailed 16 months for helping to smuggle
cigarettes
SINGAPORE: One of three Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)
servicemen charged for accepting bribes to help smuggle cigarettes
out of a military base had been sentenced to 16 months'
jail.
Ang Zi Heng, 22, pleaded guilty to one charge of corruptly
accepting about 18 to 20 cartons of contraband cigarettes from a
staff of the Indonesian Navy in exchange for transporting
contraband cigarettes out of Changi Naval Base for sale to a
Singapore syndicate.
Ang was the vehicle commander of a military minibus driven
by Ee Jin Liang last August.
Some members of the Indonesian navy, who were here for a
meeting, loaded cartons of contraband cigarettes onto the minibus
that Ee and Ang were driving and directed the Singaporeans to drive
to the carpark outside the naval base.
Ee and Ang made a total of five to six trips and they
received contraband cigarettes with a street value of S$756 for
helping with the smuggling.
The prosecution argued for a deterrent sentence as Ang had
committed the offence in the course of his duties as a military
driver and undermined the security of Changi Naval Base.
Ang, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency and
claimed he did not communicate with the Indonesian staff due to a
language barrier. Family members said Ang was a non-smoker and gave
the contraband cigarettes away to others.
The two others involved in the case, Ee and Adrian Tan,
will appear in court on March 13. If convicted, they could each be
jailed up to five years and/or fined a maximum of
S$100,000.
- TODAY/yt