Chinese national, 40, arrested at Kaki Bukit self-storage facility, 1,188 bottles of duty-unpaid liquor seized

A 40-year-old male Chinese national was arrested on Jun. 22 after he was found transporting 1,188 bottles of duty-unpaid liquor.

The total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded amounted to about S$75,835.

The man was charged in court on Jun. 24, and court proceedings are currently ongoing.

What happened

According to a Singapore Customs media release, officers acted on a tip-off and conducted an enforcement operation in the vicinity of Kaki Bukit Crescent.

During the operation, officers observed the man unloading brown boxes from a Singapore-registered lorry onto a trolley and transporting them into a storage room in a self-storage facility.

There, they found 396 bottles of duty-unpaid liquor in the lorry and 792 bottles of duty-unpaid liquor in the storage room.

The man was then arrested and the liquor and lorry seized.

Investigations revealed that the man had allegedly started a job storing and delivering duty-unpaid liquor via a social messaging platform.

Penalties

Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing, or dealing in duty-unpaid liquor are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act.

Offenders can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and jailed for up to two years, or both.

Vehicles used in committing such offences are also subject to forfeiture.

Members of the public with information on smuggling activities, duty or GST evasion can report it to Singapore Customs via their online portal at https://go.gov.sg/reportcustomsoffence.