Man to be charged over perfume theft spree at Changi Airport

SINGAPORE - A 47-year-old American man has been arrested for a series of shop thefts within Changi Airport’s transit areas, involving more than $1,400 worth of perfume.

The suspect was nabbed by Airport Police Division officers during a planned operation on Sept 25 as he transited through Changi Airport, the police said in a statement on Oct 7, ending a multi-visit stealing spree across terminals.

The authorities were first alerted on Nov 5, 2025, to a case of shop theft after a retail assistant at Changi Airport Terminal 3 discovered a box of perfume missing from a display shelf.

CCTV footage revealed that a man had taken a box of perfume valued at $331 the previous evening at about 7.38pm and left without paying.

Further investigations showed that he swiped three more boxes of perfume, totalling $646, from two retail outlets in the transit area of Terminal 2 later that day, before flying out of Singapore.

Airport Police Division officers identified the suspect, but he had already left Singapore by then.

The suspect struck again about five months later.

During a layover at Changi Airport on April 24, 2026, he took two more boxes of perfume, valued at at $236.90 and $195.40, from two shops within six minutes, between about 7.15am and 7.21am, before departing on his connecting flight.

Officers from the Airport Police Division caught up with him on Sept 25 when he transited through Changi Airport.

The man will be charged on Oct 8 with five counts of theft in dwelling. If convicted, he can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both.

“Offenders should not assume that leaving Singapore after committing an offence will allow them to evade the law,” said the police, emphasising its zero-tolerance stance on shop theft.

The authorities added that they take such crimes seriously and will continue to work closely with airport stakeholders to prevent, detect and deter shop theft at Changi Airport.