13,000 travellers fined nearly $3.5m for undeclared goods

Number of those penalised for evading taxes almost doubles from a year ago

- Ian Cheng

More than 13,000 travellers have been fined for evading taxes across air, land and sea checkpoints since January.

In total, 13,099 travellers were fined $3,471,043, said the Singapore Customs in a statement on Nov 15.

This is almost double the number of 7,193 travellers caught over the same period in 2023; they were fined a total of $2,303,380.

In one case, during a bag inspection, officers discovered various undeclared luxury bags and accessories on a woman flying back from a business trip in London.

The bags and accessories, which were intended as gifts, were from brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior and Balenciaga.

There were also Pop Mart toys, including Labubu figurines.