Guilty of loving the iPhone 7: Two Singaporeans buy plane tickets to get iPhones, get arrested

It’s been difficult to get the iPhone 7 in Singapore, since it sold out there within days of its initial release. Not helping matters is the fact that there is no Apple Store in the city-state, forcing residents to either go online or to a reseller. As it happens, there is a reseller in Changi Airport, which is where our two Singaporeans come in.

The duo not only wanted to skip the lines, but also to save some money, and the reseller in the airport met both criteria. The pair bought plane tickets for the sole purpose of buying the iPhone 7, thinking they could thereafter get their ticket prices refunded. Unfortunately for them, the authorities caught wind of their actions and arrested them.

The problem is that they had no intention of flying anywhere, and thus were misusing their boarding passes. They were accordingly charged with violation of the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act. If convicted, they face up to 1,000 Singapore dollars ($735) in fines or up to two years in jail, though the investigation is ongoing. The Singapore police department also issued a warning through its Facebook page, saying that 15 people have been arrested under the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act since January.

Yes, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are excellent phones that those in the market for a smartphone should definitely consider, but we are not sure they are worth a possible prison sentence or fine that costs as much as the base iPhone 7 here in the U.S.