A Malaysian driver has been arrested for having close to 500,000 sticks of contraband cigarettes in his truck.

The 33-year old Malaysian Chinese was caught at the Woodlands Checkpoint on Friday evening.

An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority news release said on Monday that its officers found 650 cartons of cigarettes hidden beneath the floorboard of his truck.

He had earlier declared to customs officers that he was carrying vegetables.

However a vigilant ICA officer manning the radiographic scanner noticed anomalies in the scanned image of the cargo and alerted his colleagues to conduct further checks.

The driver denied knowledge of the items found. He claimed to have been paid RM150 (S$65) to deliver the vegetables to Pasir Panjang.

The total amount of customs duties and Goods & Services Tax involved is estimated to be $45,800 and $4,100 respectively.

The case has been referred to Singapore Customs for further investigations.

If convicted by the court, first time offenders can be fined up to a maximum of 20 times the amount of duty evaded.

For second or subsequent convictions, offenders can be jailed for up to two years, as well as being fined. The offenders also face further fines based on the amount of GST evaded.