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SINGAPORE : The number of duty unpaid cigarettes seized last year was 37 per cent lower compared to the figures in 2008. According to the Singapore Customs, this was the largest drop in five years.
2.9 million packets of duty unpaid cigarettes were confiscated by the Singapore Customs last year, down from 4.6 million in 2008.
Similarly, the number of people caught peddling or buying illegal cigarettes was about 2.5 per cent lower in 2009 than the year before.
Singapore Customs said this could be due to the SDPC or "Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarette" printed on every single legal cigarette.
Fong Yong Kian, director-general, Singapore Customs, said: "Our SDPC markings, which kicked in in January, have been quite successful. It makes it easier for our officers to detect contraband cigarettes.
"At the same time, the markings serve as a very strong psychological reminder to smokers that should you light up a cigarette without a marking, people who walk past will know that it is a contraband."
More smokers are going for the legal stuff - last year, S$861 million was collected in duties, a 13 per cent increase from 2008.
According to the Singapore Customs, the syndicates are using more elaborate methods to bring in contraband cigarettes. For instance, instead of using big container trucks, the smugglers are bringing in the loot via smaller packages that have been carefully concealed, such as by hiding the cigarettes within concrete slabs or within plastic film rolls.
The enforcement results also showed that 14 motor traders were prosecuted for under-declaring the values of imported vehicles, a five-fold increase from the year before.
And the number of people busted for tampering with their fuel gauges rose from four in 2008 to 24 last year. - CNA/ms
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