Man caught with knife in shoe at Singapore Changi airport gets 10 months' jail

A Singapore court on Oct. 6 sentenced an Indonesian seafarer to 10 months in jail and six strokes of the cane for trying to board a flight at Changi Airport with a knife hidden in his shoe.

Syaifudin Alfitroh, 32, pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon, The Straits Times reported.

He was going through security at Terminal 4 on Aug. 27, on his way to a flight to Indonesia, when officers flagged a suspicious object in his right shoe, hidden beneath two layers of socks.

The Singapore Police Force said at the time that an aviation security officer operating an X-ray machine spotted a sharp object after he took off his shoes for screening, and that the knife was wrapped in plastic bags sealed with tape, according to Mothership.

Police put the knife's length at 19.5 centimeters with a 12-centimeter blade.

Knife handed over at sea

Syaifudin worked as a crew member on vessels in the Indian Ocean, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Kai told the court.

In March he met a man named Ahmad on one of those vessels. Ahmad handed him the knife wrapped in plastic and told him to hide it in his shoe before he left for Jakarta. Court documents did not say what Ahmad's motive was or why Syaifudin agreed.

On Aug. 5 Syaifudin was on a Taiwan-flagged transshipment vessel bound for Singapore's Marina South Pier when he reported feeling unwell, and his employer arranged for him to fly home from Singapore.

He said that while packing before he arrived in Singapore on Aug. 27 he wanted to put the knife in his check-in luggage, but remembered Ahmad's instructions.

He was arrested the same day and charged on Aug. 29.

The prosecutor sought 10 to 12 months' jail and six strokes of the cane, saying the consequences could have been catastrophic had officers not detected the knife before it was carried onto a plane.

"I was only transiting through Singapore and did not realize that Singapore had such strict regulations on weapons," Syaifudin said, adding that it was his first offense and asking for a lighter sentence.

Possessing an offensive weapon in a public place without lawful authority is punishable by up to three years in jail and caning in Singapore, The Straits Times reported.

Changi was named the world's best airport for 2026 at the Skytrax World Airport Awards in London on March 18.