Singapore customs uncovers 70k cans of smuggled beer
28th February, 2018
by
Natalie Wang
Nearly 70,000 cans of smuggled beers were busted by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in Singapore this month, a huge haul with unpaid duty amounting to S$86,580 (US$65393) and additional goods and service tax (GST) of S$20,140 (US$15,211).
According to a post by the ICA on its Facebook account, the smuggled goods, declared as fruit punch, were uncovered on 19 February in a consignment while it was passing through the Pasir Panjang Scanning Station.
Writing on its official Facebook account, ICA noted: “This method of concealment is a cause for concern as it may be used by people with ill intent to smuggle security items into Singapore.”
Last year, there was an increase in contraband smuggling, up 2.6% from the previous year to 90,327 incidents – a daily average of 247 attempts, based on figures released by the local authority earlier this month, as reported by The Straits Times.
Beer is expected to record a compound annual growth rate of 3% in total volume terms, reaching 147 million litres in 2021, based on forecasts by Euromonitor.
Beer remains a popular beverage in the subtropical city state, but due to its strict laws on alcohol, consumption per capita in the country only amounts to 2.9 litres a year on average.