K
Kotaro Fuma
Guest
Mar 28, 2011
Contraband cigarettes found hidden in trucks
By Yuen Sin
THE Singapore-registered truck looked innocuous, parked at the Bedok Industrial Park last Thursday.
When a Singaporean man unlocked its doors at 6.45pm in the evening, the storage area seemed to be loaded with just brown cement bags.
But hidden in these bags - and in similar bags in another nearby truck - were were 6,504 cartons and 6,042 loose packets of contraband cigarettes worth $545,700 in unpaid duty and taxes.
Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Singapore Customs staking out the area became suspicious when they spotted the man leaving hastily in a taxi right after unlocking the side doors of the truck.
They caught up with him and escorted him back to the truck.
A search of the two trucks revealed the smuggled cigarettes, which were of assorted brands.
The 46-year-old man was arrested.
Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
