SINGAPORE, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- More than 2,180 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized in Singapore, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Friday.
The authority said ICA officers had noticed anomalies in the 40-footer container that was declared to contain 56 cartons of children's play mats in a Singapore-registered truck at the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station.
Officers then directed the driver, a 51-year-old Singaporean man, for further checks, and duty-unpaid cigarettes were found hidden inside.
A total of 2,184 cartons of smuggled cigarettes were seized from the consignment of play mats, said ICA. The potential duty and Goods and Services Tax amounted to about 169,480 Singapore dollars (125,330 U.S. dollars) and 17,060 Singapore dollars (12,616 U.S. dollars) respectively.
ICA said that the items were handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigations.
