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Illegal cigarettes down, drugs up
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Mon, Feb 02, 2009
AsiaOne
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>The number of cigarette smuggling cases fell 21 per cent in 2008, but the amount of controlled drugs intercepted by the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) increased more than four fold to 1,820 cases last year.
Despite the decrease, duty-unpaid cigarettes still account for almost half of the all smuggling cases detected. According to a statement from ICA, smugglers are getting more creative in bringing contraband into Singapore.
Last year, they uncovered smuggling attempts in bricks, sealed oil drums, soft toys, waste papers and frozen fish. The largest consignment of contraband cigarettes was detected at Woodlands checkpoint on Dec 23, 2008 among a lorry-load of sawn timber.
There was also a slight increase of 3 per cent in the number of security-related items cases detected at the checkpoints. Ricochet blade, nanchaku, gun replicas and decorative blowpipes are some examples of security-related items that travellers attempted to bring into Singapore.
The number of pirated-disc smuggling cases busted by ICA also rose, by 15 per cent. Correspondingly, the number of illegal discs which smugglers tried to bring in had increased by 6 per cent, to 61,000 pieces.
Unlicensed medicines and controlled drugs registered the highest increase in the number of smuggling cases detected - a staggering 470 per cent. Items in this category include aphrodisiac pills, narcotic Romilar tablets and the anti-erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra.
The spike could be attributed to enhanced checks conducted on parcels suspected to contain such controlled items. A majority of these parcels arrived in Singapore via ICA's air cargo checkpoints.
This brought the total number of smuggling cases up slightly by 2% as compared to 2007.
Illegal immigrant arrests fall 26%
The arrest of immigration offenders at checkpoints has dipped by 26 per cent.
Last year, ICA had arrested 2,400 illegal immigrants and 3,600 overstayers, down from 3,000 and 4,800 the year before.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in their statement attributed the decline to the "deterrent effect from tightened border controls and sustained vigilance at the checkpoints".
According to ICA, the Biometric Database for Immigration Clearance system has served to deter the ex-immigration offenders with antecedent records from attempting entry into Singapore.
There were also fewer harbourers of immigration offenders arrested: 110 were caught last year, down by almost half. The number of employers of immigration offenders arrested also continued to remain low at 110.
ICA Commissioner, Mr Eric Tan, commending ICA officers' sustained efforts said, "our resolute alertness in securing the borders has borne fruits. We cannot afford to let our guard down because any smuggling attempt is potentially one of security concern. As the nation?s first line of defence, it is imperative for ICA to take a tough stance against anyone who tries to smuggle something or someone into or out of the country."
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