On 18 January, ICA officers at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station, Ports Command foiled an attempt to smuggle 79 jars of coconut rice wine duty-unpaid liquor and 86 bottles of duty-unpaid liquor into Singapore via a consignment declared as ‘assorted items’.
ICA officers had noticed anomalies in the scanned images of the container.
The officers directed the container for unstuffing operations at the importer’s premises and uncovered the smuggled items.
Arrest
This led to a follow-up operation by Singapore Customs, in which one male Singaporean and one female Vietnamese were arrested.
Another female Vietnamese is assisting with investigations.
Investigations are still ongoing.
ICA said:
Safeguarding Singapore’s borders is a top priority for ICA. Those with malicious intent could use similar methods of concealment to smuggle security items into Singapore. ICA will continue to stay vigilant and thwart any smuggling attempts through our borders.
Potential Penalties:
Under the Customs Act and the GST Act, if they are caught in possession of undeclared alcoholic goods they be can face fines of up to 40 times the amount of duty and goods and face a maximum of six years behind bars.
Meaning if the escaped tax value is $500, they can potentially pay a fine of $2,000
Image Source: ICA