Singapore Customs has seized 14,550 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed inside air cooler units during two enforcement operations earlier this month, with more than S$1.57 million (US$1.25 million) in duties and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded.
In a media release on Monday, February 23, Customs said that a 40-year-old Chinese national was arrested in connection with the case.
The first operation took place on February 7, when Customs officers observed the man leaving an industrial building along Buroh Street. After questioning him, officers were led to a unit within the building, where they uncovered 7,306 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden inside three air cooler units.
The man was arrested on the spot and the cigarettes were seized.
Subsequent investigations led officers to conduct a second raid on February 11 at another industrial building in Tuas Bay Close. There, they found an additional 7,244 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed in three air cooler units using a similar method.
In total, the cigarettes seized from both operations amounted to about S$1,578,512 in evaded duty and GST.
"Our investigations revealed that an unknown person had allegedly engaged the arrested man to retrieve the (duty-unpaid cigarettes) from the air coolers and pack them for local distribution," Customs said.
The court proceedings against the man are still ongoing.
Under the Customs Act and the GST Act, offences involving duty-unpaid goods — including buying, selling, transporting, delivering, storing or possessing such items — carry heavy penalties. Offenders may face fines of up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, imprisonment of up to six years, or both.
