October 02, 2019, 06:28 PM
Another day, another foiled smuggling attempt.
In September 2019, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers stopped six separate attempts to smuggle 78 packs and 40 loose sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore.
The attempts took place at the Singapore Cruise Centre, West Coast Pier and Marina South Pier.
Photo via ICA's Facebook post
Suspicious bulge
On Sep. 11, ICA officers noticed a suspiciously-shaped bulge on a 39-year-old Malaysian male traveller.
The officers then uncovered 10 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes that was located around his hip and groin area.
Photo via ICA's Facebook post
On Sep. 29, 40 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found to be concealed in luggage of a 55-year-old Romanian man, after anomalies were detected in scanned images of his luggage.
Three Singaporeans and one Russian man, aged 28 to 64 were also caught smuggling duty-unpaid cigarettes in four separate cases between Sep. 9 and 20.
They had attempted to hide the cigarettes underneath their clothes, around their waist ankles and within the socks and boots that they were wearing.
Photo via ICA's Facebook post
Under the Customs Act, any person who is found in possession of duty-unpaid cigarettes can be compounded up to S$5,000, or charged in Court.
Other suspicious bulges:
Top image via ICA's Facebook post
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