BY VICTORIA BARKER

CONTRABAND smuggling across Singapore borders is at its highest since 2003, with cases of cigarette and security-items smuggling registering the highest spike.

Topping the list of illegal items that people attempted to be bring in are duty-unpaid cigarettes.

The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) saw 13,300 cases of the smuggling of such contraband smokes in the first half of the year, a 62 per cent increase from the 8,200 cases in the same period last year.

However, the quantity of cigarettes confiscated has dropped slightly, with 699,000 packets - carrying about 14 million sticks - worth about $7 million seized by the authority, compared to last year's figure of 734,000 packets.

These latest figures were revealed by ICA in its annual midyear report.

Overall smuggling of contraband grew by about 39 per cent to 33,100 cases, an all-time record, said ICA.

As for the cigarettes seized, the drop in quantity was attributed to the nabbing of petty smugglers instead of large syndicates.

ICA's director of operations, assistant commissioner Bhopinder Singh, said: "The smugglers usually try to conceal the cigarettes on themselves... Some even take their families along as a smokescreen."

Smugglers have also become more deceptive in their modus operandi, with offenders choosing to stash their loot in modified fuel tanks or along the lining of luggage.

For security-related items, which include firearms, flick knives and nightsticks, 39 per cent more cases were detected and 4,600 suspects were arrested.

In one of the biggest hauls in January, ICA officers at the Changi Airfreight Centre found 271 concealed pieces of airsoft guns and accessories, including rifle parts and pellets.

More attempts to bring in illegal plants, food and animal-related items - such as shark and crocodile skulls, and tiger claws - were also thwarted. There were 3,900 cases reported, up by 44 per cent from last year's 2,700 cases.

Immigration offences took a significant dip, said ICA. Fewer offenders were nabbed this year, with the numbers of those caught harbouring or employing them on the decline as well.

The number of such cases fell by 13 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Overall, the number of offenders comprising illegal immigrants and overstayers decreased by 33 per cent to 2,077.

This was attributed to the strategic deployment of biometric technology, which incorporates facial-recognition capabilities, as well as cooperation with other enforcement agencies to deny potential immigration offenders access into the country.

There was also a greater awareness of the consequences of renting out premises, or providing jobs, to immigration offenders.

ICA urged the public to play a part in keeping the problem of illegal immigrants in check.

They can do so by conducting "due-diligence checks" and verifying the validity of immigration and work passes produced by prospective foreign tenants and employees, it added.

vbarker@sph.com.sg

For more my paper stories click here.