Busted: Contraband cigarettes hidden under canned drinks

 ANOTHER attempt to smuggle a big haul of contraband cigarettes was busted by immigration and customs officers on Tuesday.

A 20-footer container, which arrived at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station on Tuesday at about 2.50 pm, was directed for radiographic scanning.

Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Singapore Customs found the scanned image to be inconsistent with the declared consignment of canned drinks.

Sensing something amiss, the officers directed the container to the cargo inspection platform for physical examination.

They found cartons of canned soya bean milk neatly stacked in the container. When they removed a few layers of the cartons of canned drinks, they discovered some boxes containing contraband cigarettes.

A total of 6,320 cartons, with 200 sticks of cigarettes each, were found concealed among 1,699 cartons of canned drinks.

The total duty and GST on the seized cigarettes amounted to about $485,200.