SMUGGLING CASES IN SINGAPORE SYKROCKET

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- Despite Singapore's tight border security and
stringent checks at its entry points, smuggling cases into the island state
has skyrocketed in the first half of the year.

About 23,800 contraband smuggling cases were detected during the six months
or a 34.5 per cent increase from the 17,700 cases reported in the same period
last year, according to the republic's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority
(ICA).

The cases were "the highest since ICA's formation on April 1, 2003," the
authority said in its half-yearly report released Friday.

The contrabands were mainly unpaid-duty cigarettes (734,000 packets),
security-related items such as replica guns, air pistols, knuckle dusters, live
bullets, samurai swords and dummy missiles (3,300 cases), flora, fauna and food
items (2,700 cases) and illegal discs (520 cases).

However, the number of illegals entering the state recorded a slight drop
from 3,113 cases in the first six months of last year, to 3,111 cases this year.

ICA said the smugglers were increasingly turning to more deceptive means of
concealment in a bid to evade the stringent checks in place.

They used highly creative delivery modes for contraband and people
smuggling, including using tow-truck services, fake fibreglass natural gas tank,
and even sealing the contraband within cement and fish tanks.

But the contrabands were easily detected after the ICA swept their cargo
with gamma-ray and X-ray scanners.
-- BERNAMA