SINGAPORE - A 28-year-old Malaysian was caught attempting to smuggle four packs of contraband cigarettes into Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint on Monday (May 14).

The man had hidden them in a loaf of hollowed-out bread, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

He then placed the loaf of bread in a storage compartment on a motorcycle, according to photos posted by ICA.

In the Facebook post titled "Contra-bread", ICA said a "meticulous" checkpoint officer discovered the contraband cigarettes.

The man was then compounded $800 for failing to declare and pay goods and services tax for the cigarettes.

ICA said in February that the number of contraband smuggling cases had gone up last year, with a daily average of 247 smuggling attempts.

In March, a syndicate leader who bribed a Certis Cisco officer was jailed five years and eight months, and fined $30 million, for crafting a plan to smuggle contraband cigarettes.

It was the heaviest sentence for contraband cigarette cigarette offences in four years.

Correction note: An earlier version of the story said a customs officer discovered the contraband cigarettes. It was a checkpoint officer. We are sorry for the error.