If not for the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), this Malaysian man would have made a killing selling chewing tobacco here — especially since it was officially outlawed in February.
On Tuesday, an ICA officer noticed a 35-year-old Malaysian driver acting all shady, appearing nervous and avoiding eye contact with customs officials at Woodlands Checkpoint.
The man should be, though — he was attempting to smuggle over 6,800 sachets of chewing tobacco into the Singapore borders.
Having sensed that something was amiss, ICA officers conducted checks on his car and found thousands of the illegal items hidden in modified compartments. Images uploaded on Facebook showed that the sachets of chewing tobacco were taped up in places such as under the carpets and inside the roof of the car.
The Health Sciences Authority is currently investigating the case.
The Ministry of Health officiated the new amendments to the Tobacco (Control of Advertisement and Sale) Act on Feb 1, outlawing the purchase, usage, and possession of emerging and imitation tobacco products. This includes chewing tobacco, shisha, snuff and electronic cigarettes. Anyone found violating the act can be fined up to $2,000.
Reader Interactions