ICA Seizes 4,844 Cartons Of Smuggled Cigarettes From Lorry

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, Feb 8 (Bernama) -- A total of 4,844 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized from a Malaysia-registered lorry at Woodlands checkpoint on Monday, said the Singapore Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA). Earlier, the ICA officers noticed anomalies in the scanned images of the lorry declared to contain a consignment of cooking oil by the driver, a 50 year-old male Malaysian. "During inspection, the officers found duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden in one of the boxes among the consignment. Further inspection of the other boxes revealed more duty-unpaid cigarettes," said the ICA in a statement on Wednesday. ICA said the driver, the exhibits and the lorry were handed over to the Singapore Customs for further investigations. The potential duties including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) of the duty-unpaid cigarettes amounted to about S$382,600 (S$1 = RM3.12)and S$23,320 respectively. --BERNAMA