Passenger's Carry-on Searched and Stolen in Airplane Cargo Hold... Airline Subcontractor Employee Arrested

An employee of a subcontractor for an airline was caught after stealing valuables from passengers' checked luggage over a period of two years. The Incheon Airport Police Unit announced on the 8th that they have arrested Mr. A (41), an employee of a subcontractor for a certain airline, on charges of habitual theft.

Mr. A is accused of secretly opening travel bags (carriers) entrusted to the airline by passengers before boarding the aircraft at Incheon Airport's Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 from November 2021 until the 6th of last month, stealing valuables worth approximately 373 million KRW in over 200 instances. Among the stolen items were not only precious metals and cash but also luxury goods such as a designer bag valued at 40 million KRW and luxury clothing worth 8 million KRW.

Investigations revealed that Mr. A committed the crimes while his colleagues were resting during the loading of passengers' travel bags into the aircraft's cargo hold before takeoff. He then concealed the stolen items by wrapping them in work clothes and disguised them as laundry to pass through the restricted area within Incheon Airport before leaving work.

Precious metals and bags seized by the police as evidence [Provided by Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency]

After receiving the first report from a victim passenger in March of last year, the police analyzed the employee roster of the airline and CCTV footage as similar reports, totaling about ten, continued to come in. On the 4th, Mr. A was urgently apprehended. Subsequently, stolen items were seized from his office, home, and vehicle.

Among the stolen goods, items worth approximately 210 million KRW were confirmed by victims, but the owners of the remaining 150 million KRW worth of items have not been identified. The police have set up a reporting unit (032-745-5752) to find the owners of the recovered stolen goods obtained through the search and seizure. They are also conducting further investigations on suspicions that Mr. A sold some of the stolen items online.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.