4 men arrested & 17,250 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized in Yishun industrial building

Largest in 2020.

Nyi Nyi Thet | June 01, 2020, 02:40 PM

On May 27, 2020, Singapore Customs arrested four men and seized over 17,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes at an industrial building in Yishun Street 23.

This is the largest haul of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized in a single operation this year.

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority(ICA) officers noticed anomalies in the scanned images of the consignment in a container at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station.

They then conducted further checks and uncovered duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed inside metal cabinets. The case was handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigation.

During the operation at the industrial building, officers noticed a man using a forklift to remove metal cabinets from the containers.

Another two men were removing carton boxes with the cigarettes from the metal cabinets and loading the boxes back into the container.

Singapore Customs officers moved in to arrest the three men. Another 35-year-old man was subsequently arrested on the same day for his involvement in the case.

The operation led to a seizure of 17,250 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes. The total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) amounted to about S$1,473,150 and S$119,270 respectively.

Offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or jailed for up to six years.

All four men were charged in court on May 29, 2020 and court proceedings are ongoing.

Image from Singapore Customs