Singapore bans e-cigarettes as they are considered harmful to human health and has tightened sanctions at border checkpoints during the peak tourist season.
Ultimately, 177 people arriving at Changi Airport were caught using e-cigarettes in an operation that lasted several days. As local authorities reported in the Singapore press, 61 people were fined for possessing e-cigarettes, while the remaining 116 passengers escaped punishment by declaring that they had destroyed their e-cigarettes.
The operations were carried out by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
“Arriving passengers whose luggage was found to contain suspicious items during security screening were subject to additional checks. The devices found were confiscated, and passengers who failed to declare them were issued a fine,” the organizers said.
They also reported that just last month there were 1,656 cases associated with e-vaporizers.
“The four-day operation was part of a multi-agency effort to tighten controls on so-called e-vaporizers in Singapore to prevent the spread of e-cigarettes locally. The joint operations were carried out to detect and disrupt any attempts to bring e-vaporizers into the airport during the peak tourist season,” it said. representatives of the Ministry of Health.
They also said pop-up banners and digital displays placed in high-traffic areas warned tourists that e-vaporizers were prohibited in Singapore.