SINGAPORE - Ten thousand cartons of contraband cigarettes were seized from a Malaysia-registered lorry in the wee hours of Wednesday (April 12), the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a news release on Thursday.

The total duty and Goods and Services Tax evaded amounted to about $776,000 and $57,510 respectively.

The 33-year-old Malaysian driver of the lorry had declared a consignment to contain "ceramic fibres" at Tuas Checkpoint at 4.30am.

After noticing anomalies in the scanned images of the lorry, ICA officers checked the vehicle and found contraband cigarettes concealed inside.

The driver, along with the lorry and contraband cigarettes, were handed over to the Singapore Customs for investigations.

The lorry is liable to be forfeited.

ICA said in its release that it will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at checkpoints to prevent smuggling attempts.

"The same methods of concealment used by contraband smugglers may be used by terrorists to smuggle arms and explosives to carry out attacks in Singapore," it said.