Malaysian jailed for smuggling cigarettes in tyres

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Malaysian jailed for smuggling cigarettes in tyres

Posted: 25 October 2011 1218 hrs

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SINGAPORE: A Malaysian man has been jailed seven months for trying to smuggle cigarettes into Singapore in the tyres of his jeep.

Chin Kek Kiong attempted to smuggle the contraband cigarettes on October 22 by hiding it inside all tyres including the spare tyre of his rugged Malaysian-registered jeep.

The 48 year old pleaded guilty on October 24 to the charge of attempting to smuggle 926 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes.

Customs officers said they arrested him and seized the jeep following an inspection at Tuas Checkpoint.

They became suspicious after Chin became nervous and after some anomalies were detected in the scanned images of the vehicle.

Chin admitted to the court that he had agreed to smuggle the contraband for a man named "Ah Lee" in Malaysia for 400 ringgit.

He had picked up the jeep at Gelang Patah, Johor and was supposed to drive it into Singapore and leave it at "Farm Mart" for a while before returning it to Malaysia through the Woodlands Checkpoint.

The total potential customs duty and GST payable on the cigarettes are estimated to be about S$6,500 and S$600 respectively.

Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, having in possession or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act.

Repeat offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or jailed for up to six years.

- CNA/ck

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