SINGAPORE – Ten game machines containing a total of 6,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes have been seized, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a release on Wednesday (March 13).

The total duty and goods and services tax evaded on the cigarettes amounted to $512,400 and $37,780 respectively.

The officers conducted checks on a 40-foot container at a warehouse in Tuas Avenue 3 at around 1.30pm on Monday.

ICA officers had detected anomalies in the scanned images of the consignment declared to contain 10 game machines when it was presented for clearance at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station.

The container was sealed for checks at the trader’s premises.

During the checks, the officers noticed that the game machines were locked and proceeded to pry open one of the machines for closer examination.

They found that the interior of the machine was hollow and contained duty-unpaid cigarettes wrapped in several black bundles.

The case has been handed to Singapore Customs for further investigation.s

In the release, ICA said that safeguarding Singapore’s borders remains its top priority.

“ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers, cargos and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contraband across our borders,” the authority said.

The methods used by contraband smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore, ICA added.

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