Officers inspected the consignment on June 9 after it was declared as cigarettes under a transhipment permit bound for Mexico. Inside cardboard boxes wrapped in black and green packaging, they found cigarettes of assorted brands.

Suspecting the cigarettes were fake, officers contacted the relevant trademark proprietors, who inspected the goods and confirmed them as counterfeit.

The cigarettes will be disposed of once the proprietors complete their respective infringement actions.

A Singapore Customs spokesperson said the agency "does not condone the use of our Free Trade Zones for illicit activities," and would continue working with local partner agencies and international counterparts to stamp out such activity.

A view of Changi Airport, Singapore. Photo by Unsplash

Free trade zones are designated areas where goods can be stored, processed or transhipped with both customs duties and Goods and Services Tax suspended, provided they never enter Singapore's domestic market.

Singapore Customs currently lists 11 such zones, eight attached to sea terminals and three serving Changi Airport.

Mexico's National Customs Agency announced on June 2, a week before the Changi inspection, that it had detected about 4,170 kilograms of suspected counterfeit cigarettes arriving from Singapore at Mexico City International Airport, Infobae reported.

La Jornada reported the goods were intercepted in a joint operation with the Mexican navy, and described Singapore as one of the main transit points for Asia's illicit tobacco trade.

Singapore Customs has not said whether the two cases are connected.