Nothing was amiss on the outside, but it was obvious from looking inside two lorries and a van that they had been ransacked.

The owners told police that they had locked their vehicles after parking at the Block 867 multi-storey car park in Woodlands Drive 73 on Tuesday night.

The next day, they discovered that CashCards and cash worth a total of $250 were missing.

Police said that there were no signs of forced entry.

Workshop managers told The Straits Times that this usually indicates that a master key was used to get into the vehicles.

"Cars usually have theft alarms that will sound if a master key is used, so thieves now target goods vehicles which are not equipped with these devices," said Mr Tan Ah Eng, who manages a workshop in Jurong.

The 52-year-old workshop owner said that unless someone had the spare remote locking control device, it would be very difficult to unlock a car without activating the alarm.

He said: "Usually thieves just smash a window to steal from cars.

"But with lorries and other goods vehicles, someone with about 20 master keys
can usually find one that fits the lock."