SINGAPORE – A woman who was transitting at Changi Airport Terminal 2 was arrested on March 15 on the suspicion of stealing bottles of perfume from two shops.
Closed-circuit television footage revealed that the woman, a 28-year-old Indian national, had left a cosmetic shop without paying for two bottles of perfume.
Staff from The Shilla Duty Free Cosmetic Shop had noticed that the two bottles were missing when conducting an inventory stocktake.
A security officer, after being alerted to the incident by the shop’s staff, detained the woman before she departed from Singapore, the police said on March 19.
The woman pulled out one bottle of perfume when confronted, but a search of her bag revealed three more bottles.
Preliminary investigations showed that she had stolen another two bottles from a retail shop in the terminal’s departure hall.
The perfume bottles, which have been returned to the respective shops, cost about $742 in total.
The woman is expected to be charged in court on March 20.
If found guilty of theft in dwelling, she may be jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both.
The police said they take a serious view on shop theft, and warned that offenders will be dealt with firmly and in accordance with the law.
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