Travelers’ Nightmare: LAX Baggage Employees Busted for Thefts

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Traveler Nightmare No. 1 – Somebody puts something suspicious in your bag that isn’t yours and that you don’t want.

Traveler Nightmare No. 2 – Somebody takes something from your bag that is yours and that you did want.

That second scenario is what played out at Los Angeles International Airport over the last several months as police busted a ring of baggage workers who were rifling through luggage and stealing items of interest – and then selling some of those items on Craigslist.

"Basically everything of value — be it electronics, jewelry and items — that could be stolen in seconds would be removed from bags," LAX Police Chief Pat Gannon told the Los Angeles Times. "They'd just open up the suitcases and rifle through them and pocket valuables."

A joint task force of LAX and Los Angeles Police Department officials began investigating months ago when one company in particular, Menzies Aviation, received an unusual number of theft reports.

The police raided the airport and the homes of suspected individuals, detaining 14, eventually arresting six, and saying as many as 25 could have been involved.

"We believe that there has been a culture of being able to take property that wasn't theirs, and that's what we want to be able to put a stop to," LAPD Captain Ray Maltez told KABC-TV.

Police said the baggage workers took electronics and jewelry, mostly, but clothing as well, and then turned around and sold the items, including on Craigslist. This isn’t the first time LAX has had these issues – 11 people were arrested in 2007 for stealing items from passengers’ bags.

Menzies Aviation said in a statement it believed the alleged thefts were, "limited to a handful of employees, acting independently. Menzies supports this enforcement action and pledges its complete cooperation with the police investigation.”