165% More People fined for Buying Contraband Cigarettes in Singapore in 2007

02/01/2008

A total of 6,012 persons were fined in Singapore last year for buying duty-unpaid cigarettes, a 165 percent increase from the previous year's number of 2,268, local media reported Wednesday. In its report for last year, the Singapore Customs said it was due to their stepped-up enforcement action against buyers of contraband cigarettes last year, according to local television Channel NewsAsia. The authority also said that to further deter demand for illegal cigarettes, it increased the composition sum in November last year from 200 to 500 Singapore dollars (from 140 to 350 U.S. dollars) for a packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes. It also enforced efforts to crack down smuggling syndicates, catching more than 23,000 people and 4.4 million packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes last year. Channel NewsAsia said the Singapore Customs would continue to step up enforcement action against syndicates and end-consumers to keep the situation in check. Enditem