SINGAPORE, Jan 25 ― Customs officers made the largest haul of contraband cigarettes since April 2015 in two related operations on January 17 and January 23 this year.

More than 25,000 cartons of duty unpaid cigarettes were seized in the two operations, Singapore Customs said in a press release today.

A raid at a logistics company at Jurong Port Road on January 17 found 4,900 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden in brown boxes.

Two Singaporeans, a 59-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman, were also arrested. A 37-year-old Malaysian man was also arrested.

Further investigations into the case led the officers to two containers parked in a vehicle yard at Pioneer Sector 3 on January 23. There, 20,600 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were found.

The total amount of unpaid import duty on the cigarettes amounted to more than US$2.3 million (RM10.2 million), while the total amount of Goods and Services Tax (GST) amounted to S$219,330, according to Singapore Customs.

Investigations are ongoing.

Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, having in possession or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act. Offenders may be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or jailed for up to six years.

Repeat offenders caught with more than 2kg of tobacco products will also face mandatory imprisonment, while vehicles used in the commission of such offences are also liable to be forfeited. ― TODAY