Singapore Customs Arrests 2 Men for Evading Duties on Cigarettes

Singapore Customs arrested a Bangladeshi national and a Singaporean national Sept. 5 for allegedly evading import duties on cigarettes, the agency announced Sept. 7. As part of the operation, it also seized over 3,700 cartons of cigarettes for which duties had not been paid. Singapore Customs officers carried out the operation at an industrial building where they witnessed two men enter the building. After one man exited, the officers checked him, finding 3,744 cartons of cigarettes wrapped in black trash bags along with 288 empty green baskets that were allegedly used as cover for the cigarettes. The agency said the duty and Goods and Services tax evaded by the men totaled $319,370 and $25,440 (in Singapore dollars), respectively. "Investigations are ongoing," the release said.