Law enforcement officers recently nabbed about 30,000 vape products hidden in frozen chicken nuggets consignment. This happened when the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) checked the consignment being ferried into the country at the Tuas Checkpoint.
On November 17th at about 3 am, the officers stopped a Malaysian registered vehicle at the checkpoint only to discover that among the frozen chicken nuggets, consignments were carefully hidden vaping products. The products were in boxes that had been wrapped with black trash bags and hidden under the vehicle’s floorboards in the resting area for the driver.
Upon seizure and inspection by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), the officers found a total of 27006 refilled vape pods and 2,600 disposable e-cigarettes. In an ICA Facebook video captioned “Winner winner chicken dinner”, the ICA officers show the checkpoint search and the discovery of the boxes. The video further shows the moment the boxes were cut open and the counting of the stash of vaping products that were seized.
This stash adds to the growing number of vape products smuggled into the country in the recent past. Already official records show that the HSA officers have been seizing an increasing number of vape products over the past recent years. According to official HAS records, in 2017 only 1,565 vaping products were seized by the HSA officers while being smuggled into the country. The number had grown to 7,593 seized vape products smuggled into the country in 2021. Now the number has more than quadrupled to over 30,000 products in 2022. According to the local news the largest haul of seized illegal vaping products in the country was about 60,000 products recovered during an October 2021 operation.
The ban on vaping products in Singapore is being blamed for the increasing number of illegal products being smuggled into the country. In April 2022, the Straits Times reported that when the country open its land borders in 2022, many Singaporeans visited Johor Bahru vape shops making these shops quite popular. Buying or possessing vaping products is illegal and if found will attract a fine of up to $2,000. Those found importing, distributing or selling these products will likely face harsher penalties. Singapore banned the sale and use of vaping products. This ban means using these products is breaking the law. This is likely to cause a lot of problems for people trying to get these products into the country by underground means.
Already some of those found smuggling or selling these products have been sentenced to serve up to 6 months in prison or pay a fine of $10,000. Repeat offenders will serve double sentences or pay maximum fines. The Singapore government has put in place these harsh measures to protect its citizens from the harmful impact of vaping products. This is particularly aimed at ensuring that young Singaporeans who were addicted to vaping products don’t get their hands on these products.
The HSA has an online portal where it encourages citizens to help fight the importation and sale of these illegal products by reporting such cases on the portal. The HSA also wants citizens to call 6684-2037 or 6684-2036 to report such cases to its Tobacco Regulation Branch. This number is open during weekdays between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm.
