Nearly 30,000 e-vaporiser products seized from lorry carrying frozen chicken nuggets at Tuas Checkpoint

SINGAPORE: Nearly 30,000 e-vaporiser products were seized after Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers foiled a smuggling attempt at Tuas Checkpoint.

A total of 2,600 e-vaporisers and 27,006 e-vaporiser refill pods were confiscated from a lorry carrying a consignment of frozen chicken nuggets, said ICA in a Facebook post on Thursday (Dec 22). 

The arriving Malaysia-registered vehicle was stopped for enhanced checks on Nov 17 at 3am.

While inspecting the driver's resting area, ICA officers uncovered boxes wrapped in black rubbish bags containing the contraband items. More e-vaporiser products were also found under the lorry's floorboards. 

“All exhibits were seized by the Health Sciences Authority and investigations are ongoing,” said ICA. 

“As guardians of our borders, ICA is committed to facilitating trade and travel while keeping Singapore’s borders safe and secure.”

Although the use, purchase and possession of e-vaporisers were banned in Singapore from February 2018, such products continue to be sold online and smuggled into the country.

The bust by ICA in November follows a string of similar smuggling incidents. Thousands of e-vaporisers and related components worth more than S$130,000 were seized after officers foiled three smuggling attempts at the Tuas and Woodlands Checkpoints in May this year.  

That same month, illegal vape products estimated to be worth more than S$1 million were disposed of at the Tuas South Incineration Plant as part of the HSA's enforcement operations. This included an estimated 6,500 e-vaporisers, 83,500 pods and 8,000 e-liquids.

In September, HSA said 17 people were convicted for selling vapes between February and August this year, with total fines amounting to S$114,500. Five people were also given jail sentences ranging from 10 to 26 days.