ICA, PCG seize 2,400 cartons of contraband cigarettes

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ICA, PCG seize 2,400 cartons of contraband cigarettes
Posted: 02 November 2010 1113 hrs
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SINGAPORE: Officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Anti-Smuggling Team and Police Coast Guard (PCG) have seized almost 2,400 cartons of contraband cigarettes worth S$238,600, from a barge and tugboat at Jurong Wharf.

The officers boarded the vessel, which had arrived from Batu Ampar, for a routine inspection last Thursday.

Most of the cigarettes were found wrapped in 49 black plastic bags in a manhole on the port side of the vessel.

Six more paper boxes containing assorted brands of cigarettes and tobacco were retrieved from inside the ballast tank.

Three crew members, including the 44-year-old Barge Master, admitted ownership of the contrabands.

The crew members said they had agreed to help transport the smuggled goods from Batam to Singapore.

They were to await further contact from someone.

The three Indonesian men were promised S$3 per carton, to be shared equally among themselves.

The trio and the contraband cigarettes were handed over to the Singapore Customs for further investigation.

-CNA/wk