The couple who escaped Singapore by hiding in a lorry container compartment after scamming their customers of $32 million, sparked concerns about security levels at Singapore’s borders.
However, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) spoke to The Straits Times, saying that they won’t be checking all vehicles at the land checkpoints as this will worsen the traffic there.
A spokesperson for ICA said that Singapore’s land checkpoints are one of the busiest land crossings in the world, with about 200,000 departing travellers daily before the pandemic.
Any delays in clearing traffic will cause a buildup of traffic on the main roads surrounding the checkpoints, including the BKE, for Woodlands Checkpoint and AYE for Tuas Checkpoint.
ICA is instead, choosing a more balanced approach by conducting regular and random operations on departing vehicles daily, including inspecting car boots, luggage and engine compartments of buses, and the cabin in container compartments of lorries.
In the event of a major security incident, officers will conduct more checks on departing vehicles to prevent offenders from leaving the country.
An example would be is a terrorist attack inland were to take place, ICA would step up inspections efforts to stop the perpetrators involved from leaving.
ICA said that although the checks may not be 100%, they are still not minimal or negligible in numbers.