Malaysian trio jailed for attempting to smuggle contraband cigarettes into Singapore

SINGAPORE: Malaysian Ching Siong Huat who attempted to drive into Singapore with contraband cigarettes hidden in his car was sentenced to seven months jail by the court on Aug 19.
His two female passengers, Joo Mei Suan, 43, and her daughter, Ler Kia Ling, 18, who were also involved in the smuggling attempt, were each sentenced to six months' jail.
In a joint statement today, Singapore Customs and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority said the three Malaysians were arrested on Aug 15 by the Singapore Customs officers.
A total of 298 cartons and 210 packets of contraband cigarettes worth more than S$34,000 (RM85,777) were seized from various modified compartments of Ching's car which was seized to facilitate investigations.
The duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded exceeded S$27,100.
Ching, Joo and Ler were driving through the Woodlands Checkpoint to enter Singapore on Aug 15 when they were stopped for checks by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers.
Investigations revealed that Ching, 47, was engaged to drive the car loaded with contraband cigarettes into Singapore.
He recruited Joo and Ler to pose as passengers as he assumed this would minimise suspicion and avoid detection by ICA officers.
In the first seven months of this year, Singapore Customs seized 134 vehicles which were used to smuggle contraband cigarettes into Singapore.
In the same period last year, 146 vehicles were seized.