Illegal cigarette sellers busted in night raids

Illegal cigarette sellers busted in night raids

Wednesday night's operations net 10 men, all believed to be immigration offenders; 611 packs of contraband seized in total. -ST
Arlina Arshad & Teh Joo Lin

Fri, Feb 01, 2008
The Straits Times

IT IS almost midnight and a man dressed in a black T-shirt and khaki bermudas walks up to a group of cigarette peddlers on a deserted stretch of road in Bukit Panjang.

The men have been selling the smokes, smuggled into Singapore illegally, to motorists in Petir Road for most of the night.

The man in the black T-shirt buys a pack of cigarettes, lights one up and walks away.

As he crosses nearby Chestnut Avenue, he puffs away furiously, turning his head to look at three men in a black car.

The man looks like an undercover policeman but if he is a buyer, it's his lucky day. Minutes later, an estimated 50 law enforcement officers descend on the group of suspected cigarette peddlers.

The raid occurred on Wednesday night, three days after The Sunday Times exposed the jungle hideouts of the peddlers. And this newspaper got a first-hand look at the response from the authorities.


Rise in illegal puffs

* 857 cigarette peddlers were arrested last year - a 12.3 per cent rise over the 763 caught in 2006.


* 6,012 people were caught buying illegal smokes last year - a 165 per cent leap over the 2,268 in 2006.


* To deter buyers, the maximum on-the-spot fine was increased last November to $500.

Within 10 minutes of the original cigarette buy, a Customs van, a silver van and several cars swooped down on the half-dozen unsuspecting peddlers.

A convoy of three silver vans and a car drove down Chestnut Avenue heading for a collection of makeshift canvas tents that the peddlers, all Indonesians, called home.

At the sight of the raid team, some peddlers abandoned their dinner of fried rice and chicken wings and hopped into the bushes with Gurkha officers hot on their heels.

The slower ones were pinned to the ground by officers. Their hands were bound behind their backs with cable ties and they were led into a pen that served as a processing centre.

In all, the operation in Petir Road netted six Indonesian men - three suspected illegal immigrants and three overstayers.

Earlier the same night, another four illegal immigrants had been arrested in a nearby bust in Woodlands Road in the Yew Tee area.

In all, 611 packs of contraband cigarettes were seized - with 199 packs coming from the Petir Road raid.

At Petir Road, The Straits Times overheard the officers asking the suspects, in Bahasa Indonesia, when they had arrived in Singapore and if they had paddled here illegally.

As the men's names were being scribbled on masking tape and pasted on their sleeves, The Straits Times spoke to one of them.

He flashed a weak smile and said in Bahasa Indonesia: 'We live in small groups around this area. I don't know how many of us have been caught.'

He said he was from Sulawesi and had overstayed for a month. When asked if he knew that the authorities were cracking down on peddlers, he shook his head.

His voice turned soft and, staring at the ground, he said: 'I know of raids, but I didn't know I would be caught tonight.'

Their personal belongings - including wallets and mobile phones - were emptied from their pockets and dropped into transparent plastic bags.

One of the men was found with 44 packs of illegal cigarettes in a tote bag.

After the processing, the peddlers were escorted into waiting police vans, each man flanked by two police officers.

By 1am, the streets were again quiet, and they remained quiet last night.

Last year, 857 peddlers were arrested, a 12.3 per cent increase over 2006.

In addition to Customs officials, officers from the Jurong Police Division, Special Operations Command, Gurkha Contingent and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority took part in the raid.