In the first half of 2010, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore handled 13,300 cases of cigarette smuggling, an increase of 62 percent from the 8,200 cases handled in the first half of 2009.

Despite the larger case load, the number of cigarette packs seized to 699,000 compared to 734,000 cigarette packs seized in the first half of 2009.

Source:  Victoria Barker, “Smuggling rises to 7-year high,” Asia One, August 6, 2010.

During the 2010 World Cup, police in Asia arrested over 5,000 people for illegal gambling activities and seized more than $10 Million.

Police in Malaysia, China, Thailand and Singapore raided 800 illegal gambling dens where $155 Million in illegal bets were placed during the World Cup.

Source:  “Thousands held in Asian gambling bust,” CNN, July 16, 2010.

According to the United Nations, several thousand people from Burma are believed to be trafficked out of the country each year. The main destination is China, followed by Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Source: “MYANMAR: Tricked by traffickers,” IRIN, May 31, 2010.

Below are music piracy losses in 2009 for selected countries. The figures are from the International Intellectual Property Alliance.

Source: “IIPA 2010 “Special 301 Recommendations,” International Intellectual Property Alliance, February 18, 2010.

In 2009, 1,876 drug abusers were arrested in Singapore, slightly down from the 1,925 people arrested in 2008.

1,079 people, or 60 percent of those arrest in 2009 were using heroin, up from the 46 percent arrested in 2008.

Source:  Jessica Lim, “Heroin abuse on the rise,” Straits Times, February 3, 2010.

Each month, around 350,000 movies are illegally downloaded in Singapore, which gives the country one of the highest rate of piracy on a per capita basis in the Asia region.

Source:  Konrad Foo, “S’pore mulls ‘three-strikes’ law against piracy,” ZD Net Asia, August 19, 2009.

Price is in US Dollars and represents the typical price of Marijuana in Asia.

Click here for additional prices of marijuana.

Source:  UNODC, “World Drug Report 2009: Section 3.4 Prices, pages 215 to 234,” June 2009.

Prices are in US Dollars and represent the typical price of Methamphetamines in Asia.

Source: UNODC, “World Drug Report 2009: Section 3.4 Prices, pages 215 to 234,” June 2009.