SINGAPORE: Customs officers have arrested a 50-year old
Singaporean and seized 4,250 cartons of cigarettes for which
customs duties have not been paid.
Acting on a tip-off, officers checked a yard at Eunos Road 4 where
they spotted a man loading boxes from a container onto a nearby
van.
Officers, suspecting the boxes contained duty-unpaid cigarettes,
moved in.
They found cartons of Marlboro and Dunhill cigarettes in the
boxes.
There were 850 cartons in the van and 3,670 cartons in the
container.
Officers arrested the man and seized the goods.
The cigarettes were estimated to be worth $403,750, have a customs
duty of $249,050 and $16,617 in GST.
The man also confessed he was working for a Malaysian-based
syndicate, saying his role was to collect the smuggled cigarettes
and deliver them to local buyers.
He earned $200 for each trip.
The man will be charged in court on Monday.
If convicted, he may be fined up to 20 times the tax evaded and
jailed up to 3 years.
Anyone with information on smuggling activities or evasion of
customs duty or GST may contact the Singapore Customs Intelligence
Hotline on 1800-233 0000, or email to
[email protected] - CNA