Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) shared they recently stopped a Malaysian van declaring it had a consignment of boxes of curry puffs at the Tuas Checkpoint for checks.
However, further checks revealed that the two Malaysians, 32-year-old and 30-year-old males, had 7,500 sachets of chewing tobacco hidden right beneath the curry puffs!
The two Malaysians have since been referred to the Health Sciences Authority for further action. Meanwhile, the ICA stated in their Facebook post,
“Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore’s security. ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles to prevent smuggling attempts of undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives or other contrabands. The same methods of concealment used by smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore.”
Source: TODAY Online
According to Section 15(1)(a) of Singapore’s Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act (TCASA), it is illegal to bring chewing tobacco into Singapore, as well as to distribute, sell, offer for sale or process chewing tobacco for sale in the country. If found guilty, those convicted could be fined up to SGD$10,000 (approx RM30,548), a maximum jail time of 6 months, or both.
So, if you plan on visiting Singapore anytime soon, please remember not to bring your own tobacco products because you could face a hefty fine or even a jail sentence!
Also read: 2 M’sians Caught Attempting to Smuggle Vapes into Singapore by Taping Them to Their Legs
