Key points:

• Between January 2024 and March 2025, Singapore authorities apprehended over 17,900 individuals for the possession and use of e-cigarettes, reflecting a significant enforcement effort against illegal vaping activities.
• The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) seized vaping devices and related components valued at more than S$41 million (US$31.65 million) during this period.
• Sixty individuals were prosecuted for selling vaping products, with two key offenders receiving the harshest penalties to date: 10 months’ imprisonment and fines of S$14,000 and S$16,000, respectively.

Singapore executed a multi-agency crackdown on the use and possession of vaping products. The enforcement efforts resulted in the apprehension of over 17,900 individuals from January 2024 to March 2025.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported that vaping products worth more than S$41 million were confiscated that during the 15-month period. Sixty individuals aged between 17 and 43 were prosecuted for selling the prohibited products.

Two individuals involved in a syndicate case valued over S$5 million received sentences of 10 months’ imprisonment and fines of S$14,000 and S$16,000, marking the most severe punishments imposed for such offences in Singapore to date.

In a separate incident, a key figure associated with another syndicate linked to a case involving more than S$6.5 million worth of vaping products was apprehended in October 2024, with investigations currently ongoing.

Enforcement efforts extended to Singapore’s borders, where 101 individuals were caught with vaping products during operations at various checkpoints. Authorities have emphasized that travelers bringing prohibited tobacco products into the country will face fines, and transportation companies and drivers involved in importing the products may also be prosecuted.

Under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, the possession, use, or purchase of vaping devices is illegal in Singapore. Individuals convicted of such offences are liable to a fine not exceeding S$2,000.

Those convicted of selling, offering for sale, possessing for sale, importing, or distributing vaping products face penalties of up to S$10,000 in fines or imprisonment for up to six months, or both, for the first offence.

Repeat offenders may face fines up to S$20,000 or imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both.