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Another week, another ring of luggage thieves busted
Theft from airport baggage is becoming such a common thing, that pretty soon we'll be reporting on the airports that have not yet been in the news for having a theft ring busted. This week, it's St. Louis airport that made headlines with the roundup of six baggage handlers and two of their friends who had been helping themselves to our belongings. The baggage handlers worked for a handling firm hired by Delta Airlines.
Their stash consisted of the kind of stuff you'd expect thieves to be after; DVD's, GPS devices, mobile phones, iPods and even two handguns. According to police records, the thieves stuffed the stolen items in jackets and backpacks.
If you traveled through Lambert International Airport on Delta Airlines, and believe you may have been a victim of these crooks, you can contact a police hotline at (314) 890-1822. The police will need specific information on how to determine that the item belongs to you.
All this of course raises the question how on earth these people can get away with stealing items for such a long stretch of time (15 months). It is clear that the focus of airport security needs to be expanded from passengers, to everyone working at the airport.
It is great the our nation is being protected from nasty terrorists, but if gangs of thieves can steal guns from checked luggage, the whole concept really does need some work. Most electronics stores do not allow staff to bring any kind of gadgets into, or out of the store, which is how things should work at the airports too.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Greg Mar 21st 2009 9:25AM
In the first week of December, 2008, I was returning from a business trip in Puerto Rico. My connection was through Philadelphia (where I had a four layover) before continuing home to Canton/Akron Airport.
Several hours after arriving home I noticed my Olympus Camera was missing from my checked luggage. It was rather obvious it had been stolen as my camera case was still in my luggage, everything had been "tossed", and there was no TSA paper saying the bag had been inspected.
Has anyone heard of a recent theft ring in Philly being busted? I still hope I might get my camera back.
So far, all I've done is report it to USAIR, and gotten a claim number from them.
Thanks for any help you can provide.