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A Bangladeshi gardener in Singapore asked a friend for a cigarette and was provided one.

But taking drags from it was not worth it.

While smoking, he was accosted and stopped by Singapore Customs officers, who then fined him S$500 on the spot for smoking a duty-unpaid cigarette.

It cost him dearly.

The S$500 fine is almost half of his monthly salary.

Anyone suspected of smoking duty-unpaid cigarettes will be approached

Enforcement operations were carried out on Oct. 8 in Chinatown and Geylang Serai to crack down on duty-unpaid cigarettes.

A Shin Min Daily News reporter tagged along with Singapore Customs personnel during checks at noon that day.

The migrant worker who was caught was identified as a 35-year-old who was working here as a gardener.

As per the Chinese media, as long as the authorities suspect any smoker is smoking duty-unpaid cigarettes, officers can identify themselves and check if the cigarettes in possession of the smoker have the letters SDPC stamped on them, which shows that they are duty-paid.

Cigarette was from a friend

At about 1:45pm that day, the man was seen smoking near the State Courts.

He told the reporter that he wanted to smoke after lunch, so he asked a friend for cigarettes.

He said he did not expect his friend to give him a duty-unpaid cigarette.

When the Shin Min reporter asked the migrant worker how much was the fine issued, he said, "S$500. It's almost half of my monthly salary."

He shed tears after making the statement.

Duty-unpaid cigarettes sold via chat app

One of the smokers who was caught smoking a duty-unpaid cigarette revealed that he arranged to get his supplies via a seller over an instant messaging application.

The messages revealed the selling price of cigarettes and their countries of origin.

He claimed he did not know it was illegal to buy and smoke duty-unpaid cigarettes before getting caught.

Those caught all men

The Singapore Customs officers caught 33 people smoking duty-unpaid cigarettes during enforcement on Saturday, and fined 25 of them between S$500 and S$1,300.

Six are being investigated, and two were issued warnings.

The men -- nine Singaporeans and 24 foreigners -- are aged between 32 to 70.

The authorities seized 11 packets and 160 sticks of cigarettes.

Since March 1, 2013, all cigarettes that have their duties paid will have the Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarette (SDPC) mark.

Top photo via Shin Min Daily News