SINGAPORE - Some 3,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized at the Woodlands Checkpoint on Thursday (Aug 24).

The cigarettes were smuggled in by a 33-year-old Malaysian man who was driving a Malaysia-registered truck into Singapore. It was declared that the consignment, which the cigarettes were concealed among, contained an assortment of biscuits.

The total duty and Goods and Services tax evaded was about $232,800 and $17,250 respectively.

The duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Thursday at 4am.

The man, cigarettes and truck were then handed over to the Singapore Customs for investigations.

Said ICA in a statement: "Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's security. 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."

In such an offence, the vehicle commissioned is liable to be forfeited.