Don't fall prey to lucrative driver jobs to carry duty-unpaid cigarettes

SINGAPORE: Drivers who took up "lucrative" job offers, either through website or social media platforms, to drive cars carrying duty-unpaid cigarettes across the border will find themselves on the wrong side of the law, warned Singapore Customs today.
"We have noticed more people falling prey to online advertisements seeking for drivers to convey duty-unpaid cigarettes across the border," said assistant director-general (Intelligence and Investigation), Singapore Customs, Yeo Sew Meng in a media release here.
"Such job offers may appear attractive but they often make false promises for payment and you will end up paying a high price when you are caught," said Yeo.
According to the release, 11 drivers were jailed for their involvement in such duty-unpaid cigarette activities from January to mid-September 2017 and were sentenced to between four and eight months' imprisonment.
Court proceedings are ongoing for another driver caught in July 2017 for being involved in conveying duty-unpaid cigarettes across the border, it said.
The statement highlighted one of the case involving two Malaysian women – Chai Fei Yun, 31; and Teng Siaw Fean, 20 – who were sentenced on Aug 23, 2017 by the State Courts to six months' and 22 weeks' imprisonment respectively for smuggling duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore.
Investigations revealed that Chai took up a job offer on Facebook to smuggle duty-unpaid cigarettes from Malaysia to Singapore, and got Teng, who was in debt, to assist her with the smuggling job.
Both women were promised a total payment of S$420 (S$1=RM3.10) for every successful delivery.
With Teng as her passenger, Chai attempted to drive the car concealed with duty-unpaid cigarettes through the Woodlands Checkpoint on Aug 18, 2017 but they were stopped and arrested.
A total of 256 cartons and 701 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes, with duty and Goods and Services (GST) evaded amounting to about S$25,310 and S$1,880 respectively, were seized.
Singapore Customs said buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, having in possession or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act.
Offenders will be severely dealt with.
They can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or jailed for up to six years.
Repeat offenders who are caught with more than 2kg of tobacco products will face mandatory imprisonment.
Vehicles used in the commission of such offences are also liable to be seized, it said. — Bernama