A 33-year-old male Malaysian driver claimed he had to pay Goods and Services Tax for his earphones, speakers and headsets of assorted brands when he was stopped for checks at Tuas checkpoint on 3 Jan. However, the Singapore Customs officer noticed that the declared amount was too low in value and suspected that he could be importing counterfeit items for commercial purposes.
On the same day, at about 6.50pm, an officer at Woodlands checkpoint found several bags containing multiple items, believed to be counterfeit goods in a Malaysia-registered car boot.
Both cases had been referred to Singapore Police Force for investigation.
Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore’s security. The ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands.
The Police take a serious view against intellectual property right (IPR) infringements and will not hesitate to take action against perpetrators who showed blatant disregard for our IPR laws. Persons found guilty of importing, possessing or distributing goods with falsely applied trade mark for the purpose of trade may be fined up to a maximum of $100,000, or an imprisonment term which may extend to five years, or both.
Source: FB post by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority