Online shopping has made life a lot easier.
Gone are the days where you had to leave your house to buy something you wanted; now all you have to do is search for it online, tap your thumbs a few times, and it’ll make its way to your house in a few days.
But the proliferation of online shopping platforms has also made it easier for people to engage in criminal activity, as the legality of products listed differs from country to country.
Such products include weapons, fake goods, and more recently, duty-unpaid cigarettes.
7 People Arrested for Buying Duty-Unpaid Cigarettes Online
Seven Singaporean men were arrested in several operations conducted by the Singapore Customs in different locations across the country, the agency said in a Facebook post on Monday (16 Aug).
The raids were carried out between 4 and 6 Aug in Woodlands, Tanglin Halt, Tampines, Pasir Ris, and Teban Gardens.
The agency targeted recipients of online shopping parcels, following referrals from Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at Changi Airfreight Centre, Air Cargo Command, who detected parcels that contained duty-unpaid cigarettes.
In their operation at Tanglin Halt, Singapore Customs officers found nine cartons, 13 packets, and 168 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes.
The offender was charged in court on 10 Aug 2021.
In another operation that took place in Tampines, officers found three cartons, 12 packets, and 53 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes, as well as two sticks of duty-unpaid cigars. Investigations are ongoing.
According to the agency’s post, the seven men who were arrested had allegedly used a popular online shopping platform to order duty-unpaid cigarettes from overseas sellers.
The cigarettes were delivered in innocuous-looking parcels to various recipients, just like any other online shopping purchase.
The e-commerce platform in question wasn’t named.
“Three of the offenders had been charged in court while investigations are ongoing for the remaining four men,” Singapore Customs said.
What if I Just Buy One?
Smugglers aren’t the only ones who can get into trouble, of course.
As Singapore Customs said on its website, buying or selling “one is all it takes” to land yourself in jail or get slapped with a huge fine.
“Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, having in possession or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the Goods and Services Tax Act,” the agency said.
“You can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded, or jailed for up to six years, or both.”
So it’s better to stay away from duty-unpaid cigarettes, or any cigarette for that matter.
In fact, watch this video to the end to learn how to quit smoking:
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Featured Image: Facebook (Singapore Customs)