On the evening of May 6, a Malaysian man was arrested at the Woodlands Checkpoint. His crime? An attempt to smuggle 3,346 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore. Stashed in a modified compartment on the roof of his lorry, the contraband items' potential duty and Goods and Services Tax came up to $259,650 and $26,140 respectively.
The 39-year-old driver is currently assisting with investigations, according to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. The cigarettes and the vehicle, which was transporting a consignment supposedly containing 100 rolls of 'Single-Face Roll Papers', were handed over to the Singapore Customs.
ICA declared that it will continue with security checks on passengers and vehicles at checkpoints to weed out attempts to smuggle in contraband items like drugs, weapons and explosives.