Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
Aug 27, 2009
HELPING FOREIGN NAVY STAFF SMUGGLE ILLEGAL CIGS
Ex-army driver jailed <!--10 min-->
Judge imposes deterrent sentence as security at naval base was breached <!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Khushwant Singh </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="330">
</td> <td width="10">
</td> <td valign="bottom">
Ee, who was a lance corporal, pleaded guilty last week and has been in military detention since his arrest. -- ST FILE PHOTO
</td></tr> </tbody></table>
A FORMER full-time national serviceman, who helped foreign navy personnel smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes out of Changi Naval Base, was given a stiff jail term on Wednesday. Ee Jin Liang, 23, who was a lance corporal and military driver, appeared stunned after a judge meted out a prison sentence of four years and five months.
Explaining the tough sentence given to the first-time offender, Senior District Judge Tan Siong Thye said a deterrent sentence was clearly called for as Ee had assisted foreign personnel to circumvent the security precautions at a military installation on five occasions. He said: 'If not deterred, some other national serviceman could be bribed to look the other way...We can ill-afford such security compromise in today's context, as terrorism is very real and terrorists will exploit security lapses and cause massive public mayhem and destruction of human lives and property.'
The judge also pointed out that the amount of contraband involved was one of the highest to come before the courts: The excise duty and goods and services tax unpaid on the cigarettes exceeded $3 million.
Besides Ee, who pleaded guilty last week and has been in military detention since his arrest, two other former military drivers were also involved: Ang Zi Heng, 22, who was a lance corporal, was jailed for a year and four months in March on one count of corruption; and Adrian Tan, 23, who was also a lance corporal, is awaiting trial. During Ee's trial last week, the court heard that meetings between representatives of the Singapore and Indonesian navies are held every month, with the two navies taking turns to host these meetings. When meetings are held at Changi Naval Base, drivers like Ee are assigned to ferry the Indonesians.
In August last year, an Indonesian officer asked Ee if it was safe to take contraband cigarettes out of the base. Ee replied that he did not know, but allowed the Indonesians to load the cigarettes onto the minibus that he and Ang took turns to drive. The pair went on to make five or six trips to a carpark outside the base, where the contraband was loaded onto lorries. For their work, Ee and Ang were given 20 cartons of cigarettes. Two months later, Ee repeated the favour. As the minibus was too small, he obtained a larger vehicle and made three trips to transport the contraband out of the base. That time, he received a chest of tea in addition to 20 cartons of cigarettes. The smuggling operation went up in smoke last December, when Customs officers intercepted two lorries loaded with the smuggled cigarettes and caught Ee while his vehicle was being loaded with contraband at the wharf. Investigations revealed that the Indonesians were in cahoots with a syndicate that sold the cigarettes here.
[email protected]
Aug 27, 2009
HELPING FOREIGN NAVY STAFF SMUGGLE ILLEGAL CIGS
Ex-army driver jailed <!--10 min-->
Judge imposes deterrent sentence as security at naval base was breached <!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Khushwant Singh </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="330">
</td> <td width="10">
Ee, who was a lance corporal, pleaded guilty last week and has been in military detention since his arrest. -- ST FILE PHOTO
</td></tr> </tbody></table>
A FORMER full-time national serviceman, who helped foreign navy personnel smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes out of Changi Naval Base, was given a stiff jail term on Wednesday. Ee Jin Liang, 23, who was a lance corporal and military driver, appeared stunned after a judge meted out a prison sentence of four years and five months.
Explaining the tough sentence given to the first-time offender, Senior District Judge Tan Siong Thye said a deterrent sentence was clearly called for as Ee had assisted foreign personnel to circumvent the security precautions at a military installation on five occasions. He said: 'If not deterred, some other national serviceman could be bribed to look the other way...We can ill-afford such security compromise in today's context, as terrorism is very real and terrorists will exploit security lapses and cause massive public mayhem and destruction of human lives and property.'
The judge also pointed out that the amount of contraband involved was one of the highest to come before the courts: The excise duty and goods and services tax unpaid on the cigarettes exceeded $3 million.
Besides Ee, who pleaded guilty last week and has been in military detention since his arrest, two other former military drivers were also involved: Ang Zi Heng, 22, who was a lance corporal, was jailed for a year and four months in March on one count of corruption; and Adrian Tan, 23, who was also a lance corporal, is awaiting trial. During Ee's trial last week, the court heard that meetings between representatives of the Singapore and Indonesian navies are held every month, with the two navies taking turns to host these meetings. When meetings are held at Changi Naval Base, drivers like Ee are assigned to ferry the Indonesians.
In August last year, an Indonesian officer asked Ee if it was safe to take contraband cigarettes out of the base. Ee replied that he did not know, but allowed the Indonesians to load the cigarettes onto the minibus that he and Ang took turns to drive. The pair went on to make five or six trips to a carpark outside the base, where the contraband was loaded onto lorries. For their work, Ee and Ang were given 20 cartons of cigarettes. Two months later, Ee repeated the favour. As the minibus was too small, he obtained a larger vehicle and made three trips to transport the contraband out of the base. That time, he received a chest of tea in addition to 20 cartons of cigarettes. The smuggling operation went up in smoke last December, when Customs officers intercepted two lorries loaded with the smuggled cigarettes and caught Ee while his vehicle was being loaded with contraband at the wharf. Investigations revealed that the Indonesians were in cahoots with a syndicate that sold the cigarettes here.
[email protected]
