The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) attributed it to its thorough examinations and tightened security at the checkpoints to sieve out immigration offenders.
The number of overstayers has also showed a decline of 23 per cent from 2,830 in 2010 to 2,180 last year.
Authorities said human smuggling syndicates are also getting more innovative in transporting illegal immigrants through the checkpoints. But they have been foiled by tighter security.
The number of vehicles seized for conveying immigration offenders has dropped by more than half from 18 in 2010 to 7 last year. ICA said its officers will remain watchful for suspicious drivers, modified compartments and illegal hiding places in conveyances.
Security screening has been beefed up with biometric identification technologies.
Koh Wee Sing, head of public and internal communications at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, said: "...BIKES, also known as Biometric Identification of Motorbikers System, allows ICA to automate immigration clearance of motorcyclists coming through Woodlands and Tuas checkpoint. Once the motorcyclist pulls up, he will get his fingerprints verified. Once successful, the auto gate will open and he will proceed on his own journey."
A real-time facial recognition system allows officers to single out immigration offenders when they try to enter or leave Singapore.
The immigration facial screening system or iFaces works in a similar way to fingerprint verification. The ICA has a biometric database of photo images of immigration offenders or persons of interests. Once a passport is scanned, the officer will be able to verify whether the traveller's photo matches against the database.
The system has been deployed at Woodlands Checkpoint at its Motorcycles Zones since January last year.
Meanwhile, the number of people caught harbouring and employing immigration offenders decreased by almost half from 77 in 2010 to 40 last year. The number of employers arrested also fell from 26 in 2010 to 23 in 2011.
ICA said it has adopted a more targeted approach to reach out to specific groups of potential harbourers since 2003. It will continue to tap its pool of crime prevention ambassadors to help spread the anti-harbouring messages.
As for the smuggling of contraband items, there was a surge in such attempts at the checkpoints last year. The total number of cases detected was 80,800, an increase of 19.5 per cent compared to 2010.
Smuggled items include pets, weapons and illegal cigarettes.
Smugglers have also used unusual concealment methods in their attempts to get past the checkpoints with their contraband goods.
Some uncommon methods uncovered last year included used hollowed-out books. ICA said last September, officers at the Air Cargo Command were examining a trans-shipment parcel - which was declared to contain 14 pieces of printed books - when they uncovered packets of dark powdery substance in the books.
Vehicle tyres were also used to conceal contraband items. Last October, 930 packets of contraband cigarettes were found hidden within the four running tyres and a spare tyre of a Malaysia-registered jeep at the Woodlands Checkpoint. Officers observed that the driver appeared nervous when questioned and anomalies were noted in the scanned images.
In another case last July, a total of 602 packets of contraband cigarettes and 906 sachets of chewing tobacco were found hidden in a spare tyre of a bus. The Malaysian driver who plied between Malaysia and Singapore conveying factory workers was arrested for transporting the spare tyre concealed with contraband cigarettes into Singapore.
ICA said the tactics used by smugglers are constantly evolving and these raise security concerns. Smugglers are turning to more deceptive and inventive methods of concealment, in their attempts to evade detection.
ICA said the same methods of concealment used by contraband smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives for more sinister attacks in Singapore.
ICA said with the evolving security landscape and the huge volume of human traffic at the checkpoints, it will continue to make use of technology to combat smugglers.
- CNA/al/ms
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