Amount of contraband cigarettes seized falls to new low
The quantity of contraband cigarettes seized fell to a new low of 1.9 million packets of cigarettes in 2011, a decrease of 17.4 per cent from the 2.3 million packets seized in 2010.
Singapore Customs said in a statement that this is a fall for the third consecutive year.
Another indicator of the contraband cigarette situation was the increase in duty collected by Singapore Customs in 2011.
Duty collected by Singapore Customs from cigarettes increased 4.6 per cent to $917 million in 2011, from $877 million in 2010.
Mr Lee Boon Chong , Assistant Director-General (Intelligence and Investigation), Singapore Customs said the organisation has continued to reduce the presence of contraband cigarettes in 2011.
“Several smuggling syndicates were crushed. The quantity of contraband cigarettes seized continues to decline, while the consumption of duty-paid cigarettes has gone up.
“Singapore Customs will continue to work at improving the situation and collaborate with other enforcement agencies to achieve even more positive results,” he said.
Despite the fall in number of contraband cigarettes seized, there was a marginal increase in the number of cigarette offenders
The number of cigarette offenders went up by 1.5 per cent, from 25,787 in 2010 to 26,164 in 2011.
75 per cent of these cases involved incoming travellers who were fined for possessing a few packets of illegal cigarettes at the various checkpoints.
Singapore Customs also said in the statement that members of the public should not purchase illegal brands of cigarettes such as “Moon Mountain”.
The number of illegal cigarette peddlers caught in 2011 fell by 34.8 per cent to 458 from 702 in 2010.
However, Singapore Customs said the peddlers are becoming more discreet and creative in how they hide their contraband, such as modifying objects like flower pots and rubbish bins to hide their illicit cigarettes, as well as hiding them in filthy places like rubbish bins and toilets.
Other offences include evasion of liquor duties, which saw a 13.8 per cent increase in the number of liquor offenders to 2,323 from 2,042 offenders in 2010 and evasion of motor vehicle duty, which saw two traders being prosecuted for under-declaring the values of the motor vehicles they imported.
