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.