SINGAPORE - Immigration officers seized about $41,000 worth of cannabis and Ice from a Malaysian car that tried to slip into Singapore through Tuas Checkpoint.

The driver of the car, a 23-year-old Malaysian man, was arrested and the case was handed to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for further investigation.

In a joint statement with the CNB on Thursday (Feb 13), the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said its officers spotted packages concealed in the rear seat cushion of the car last Thursday morning.

These packages were found to contain about 2.9kg of cannabis and 125g of methamphetamine, also known as Ice.

The cannabis seized can feed the addiction of about 410 abusers for a week, the authorities said.

Cannabis is a Class A controlled drug listed under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act. It is illegal to consume, possess, traffic, or import and export such drugs.

In the statement, the ICA said that concealment methods used by contraband smugglers could also be used by terrorists to bring arms and explosives to attack Singapore.

"ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers, cargo and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contraband across our borders," it added.