Today Online 20 Aug 14;
SINGAPORE — Caged puppies hidden in a box and live birds concealed in tubes were among methods used by smugglers to bring their goods into Singapore, as the number of contraband smuggling cases detected rose 3 per cent in the first half of the year.
However, the number of immigration offenders arrested between January and June fell 22 per cent from the same period last year, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in its mid-year report released yesterday.
The offenders arrested between January and June comprised 203 illegal immigrants and 817 overstayers, representing a fall of 36 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, from the same period last year.
One hundred and nine harbourers and 40 employers of immigration offenders were arrested during the period, a decrease of 2 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively, from a year ago.
The number of contraband smuggling cases detected rose from 46,300 to 47,800 cases between January and June, added the ICA.
Security items, such as bulletproof vests, throwing knives, pepper sprays and night-vision binoculars, were among the common items smuggled.
Animals, such as birds hidden in tubes, resulting in the death of some of them, have also been detected.
“While smugglers of contraband items have been seeking new methods of concealment, some of them have also reverted to known methods such as concealing contraband in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) tanks of cars, hollow plywood doors and the modified floorboard of vans,” said the ICA.
In June, three separate cases involving the concealment of contraband cigarettes in the modified CNG tanks in cars were detected, added the ICA, nothing that such methods had been detected in 2010 and 2011.
The first half of this year also saw five cases of concealment using the modified floorboard in vans — up from only one for the whole of last year.
“The same method of concealment could similarly be employed by terrorists to smuggle dangerous materials, such as weapons or explosives, into Singapore,” said the ICA.
To prevent immigration offences, the ICA has adopted a multi-pronged approach, such as conducting stringent border checks and public awareness programmes on harbouring offences.
