HSA, ICA seize over $60,000 in electronic vaporiser items
SINGAPORE — Five suspects were detained, and more than $60,000 worth of electronic vaporiser-related items were seized, after the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) detected the items concealed in a car at Woodlands Checkpoint.
In a joint press release issued on Thursday (6 February), the ICA and the Health Sciences Authority stated that the five suspects, one woman and four men, were arrested after they were found awaiting the delivery of the prohibited items in the east of Singapore. The five are aged between 20 and 27.
The purchase, possession and use of e-vaporisers is banned in Singapore. Online purchases of such items is also prohibited.
The ICA had detected over 2,000 electronic vaporisers (e-vaporisers), e-vaporiser cartridges and bottled e-liquids concealed in various compartments of an arriving car at Woodlands Checkpoint on 23 January. The authority then alerted the HSA, which apprehended the five suspects upon further investigation.
More of the banned items were found in the five suspects’ residences, resulting in a total of 4,000 e-vaporiser items seized. The items were estimated to have a street value of more than $60,000.
The HSA said it took a “very serious view of the smuggling and peddling of e-vaporisers which are banned in Singapore, and will continue to work with relevant agencies to clamp down on such activities”.
The ICA stated that it would continue security checks on passengers, cargos and vehicles to prevent smuggling attempts of persons and contraband across borders.
Those convicted of smuggling or peddling e-vaporisers can be jailed up to six months, and/or fined a maximum $10,000 on a first conviction. Recalcitrant offenders may be jailed up to a year and/or fined up to $20,000.
Anyone who is convicted of possessing, purchasing or using e-vaporisers may be fined up to $2,000.
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