Singapore customs uncovers 70k cans of smuggled beer

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.