THE lorry appeared to be loaded with granite only but beneath its floorboard was more than $130,000 worth of contraband cigarettes.
Found on its driver, a 47-year-old Malaysian, was a stack of forged work passes and other documents.
This discovery was made last Tuesday afternoon at the Woodlands Checkpoint when the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and Singapore Customs staged a joint operation.
Although X-ray screening images of the lorry were inconclusive, officers noticed that the driver looked shifty and uneasy.
They then conducted a body search on him and found a black plastic bundle in his jeans pocket. Among other things, it contained 11 work passes and a blue Singapore identity card, which is believed to be forged.
Officers also found 14,500 packets of illegal smokes in a secret compartment under the floorboard. The duty and goods and services tax involved is more than $110,000.
