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Traveller arrested for shop theft in Changi Airport upon returning to S’pore
An employee from a retail shop in the transit area of Terminal 4 discovered that a handbag was stolen on Jan 7. PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW
Calista Wong
UPDATED FEB 26, 2025, 09:17 PM
SINGAPORE – A 56-year-old woman was arrested for her suspected involvement in a case of shop theft in Changi Airport upon her return to Singapore on Feb 17.
The police were first alerted to the case on Jan 7, after an employee from a retail shop at the Terminal 4 transit area discovered that a $716 handbag was missing from the display shelf.
Surveillance footage revealed that the suspect, a female Chinese national, had entered the shop and allegedly placed the handbag on her luggage trolley, before leaving the premises without paying.
The woman’s identity was subsequently established, police said, but she had already departed from Singapore.
She returned to Singapore more than a month later on Feb 17, and was promptly arrested at Changi Airport.
Police said she will be charged in court on Feb 27 with the offence of theft in dwelling. If found guilty, she could be jailed up to seven years, or fined, or both.
Assistant Commissioner of Police M Malathi, who is the Commander of Airport Police Division, said: “The police take a serious view of shop theft cases.
“This case reiterated our point that with more widespread adoption of closed-circuit television technology by retailers, shop theft cases that might have gone unnoticed at the time of the incident would eventually be detected.”
A similar case had also occurred in January, where a male Indian national allegedly stole an item from a shop in the transit area of Terminal 2 before boarding his flight. He was arrested when he returned to Singapore a few days later.
