Singapore Customs Arrests 6, Seizes Over 7,100 Cartons of Cigarettes
Singapore Customs arrested six individuals and seized over 7,100 cartons of cigarettes for which duties have reportedly not been paid, the agency said in a Feb. 2 release. The arrests and seizures were made during an operation in which Singapore…
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Customs officers observed two men transferring the boxes from a box truck to a van, which one of the men drove away. Brown boxes later were seen being transferred from the box truck to an open-top truck. The officers suspected the boxes to be duty-unpaid cigarettes and then moved in to stop the transaction, Singapore Customs said. In a related operation, the van that drove away from the first scene was under observation and two were arrested when another person approached it. More cartons were found in the van. In all, 7,186 cartons of cigarettes were seized and found to have evaded $613,680 and $48,840 in Goods and Services tax (in Singapore dollars), respectively, Singapore Customs said. Two of the individuals were charged in court Jan. 29 and granted an application to be remanded for a week for further investigations, Singapore Customs said. Investigations remain ongoing for the remaining individuals.