http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/us/03luggage.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Bag Handlers Held in Theft of Luggage in Houston By MAUREEN BALLEZA New York Times January 03, 2007 HOUSTON, Jan. 2 - Wondering what happened to your lost airline luggage? If you flew through Houston over Christmas, check with the police. They may have it. Officials on Tuesday announced the arrest of five men suspected of stealing the bags, including 23-year-old twins. All worked for a contractor at George Bush Intercontinental Airport handling luggage between connecting flights within a secure area of the airport. Officials provided few details, saying the investigation was continuing. The arrests followed the discovery on Dec. 26 of 68 pieces of looted luggage in a trash bin outside a pet store in north Houston. Since then, said Capt. Rick Bownds, commander of the Houston Police Department's airport division, more than 90 additional pieces have turned up in two other locations. "We're still uncovering leads and information as we speak," he said, adding that virtually every airline at the airport was probably affected by the thefts. The five men, all charged with one felony count of engaging in an organized criminal activity, worked for Menzies Aviation, which operates in 23 countries and 100 airports, including 15 in the United States, providing passenger, ramp and cargo services. All had credentials to work in secure areas of the airport, and all the luggage taken was being transferred between connecting flights, Captain Bownds said. John Fulford, a Menzies vice president, said that theft was a continuing issue across the industry and that the company had a "zero tolerance" policy and planned to "take robust action." He said he was not aware of any similar thefts by company employees in the United States. Richard Vacar, director of the Houston airport system, said that to receive an airport identification badge, a person's identity and fingerprints are submitted to a clearinghouse, and the federal government conducts background checks. He declined to provide details, but said that there was a list of disqualifying felonies and that the record check goes back 10 years. Mark Mancuso, deputy director of safety for the airport system, said that once the criminal investigation was complete, the airport system would conduct its own investigation into employment practices. For now, the police said they were working with the airlines to track down the owners of the luggage. One of the problems, since these were bags in transit, is that travelers would not realize the luggage was missing until arriving at their final destination. Nor do the police yet have a good idea of what was stolen. "It's a matter of locating the owners of the bag to find out what items were reported missing," Captain Bownds said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
