39-year-old man arrested after authorities seize more than 1,500 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes
Duty-unpaid cigarettes were found concealed inside air-conditioning units.
SINGAPORE — A 39-year-old man was arrested on Dec 8 after more than 1,500 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized from the air-conditioning units on a truck he was driving.
The Singapore Customs said in a release on Wednesday (Dec 15) that the duty evaded for the 1,513 cartons and nine packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes amounted to about S$129,280. The goods and services tax (GST) evaded was S$10,370.
Customs officers saw the man, who is a China national, collecting the goods from a warehouse and then loading them into a Singapore-registered truck along Gambas Crescent in Sembawang.
A check on the goods found 1,512 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed inside six air-conditioning units.
Officers then found another carton and nine packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes after they searched the man’s residence.
Investigations have since found that the cigarettes were imported from China.
Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act.
Those found guilty of offences in relation to duty-unpaid goods can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded or jailed up to six years, or both. Vehicles used in the commission of such offences are also liable to be forfeited.
Court proceedings against the man are ongoing, Singapore Customs said.
