Phuket airport staff arrested for stealing from passengers’ luggage

The three baggage handlers are presented along with the stolen items. Photo: Sakoo Police/ The Phuket News
The three baggage handlers are presented along with the stolen items. Photo: Sakoo Police/ The Phuket News

Three baggage handlers at Phuket International Airport were arrested yesterday for the theft of items from passengers’ luggage.

Sakoo Police Chief Col. Jirasak Sieamsak told The Phuket News that they were notified of the theft in December and have finally identified the perpetrators from CCTV footage.

The three suspects were Nirut Saksri, 29, Manot Nakpijit, 30, and Chakrit Janprasert, 23 — all from Phichit province. Police carried out a search of their shared house and seized more than 100 items, including laptop computers, mobile phones, watches, sunglasses, jewelry and other items.

The trio admitted to stealing passengers’ items while working as baggage handlers at the airport, Col. Jirasak noted.

They will be charged for theft in airport and possession of stolen items once the investigation is complete. Meanwhile, the men were also charged with possession of drugs after their house was searched.

“Nirut and Manot were charged with carrying forbidden limited items in to the kingdom by not passing the customs process and illegal possession of a Category 5 drug (marijuana) while Chakrit was charged with possession of a Category 1 drug (yaba),” Col. Jirasak said.

In the past, police have randomly checked baggage staff and made arrests, but sometimes passengers did not take action against staff since the items they stole were not worth much, he noted.

Meanwhile at Suvarnabhumi Airport, similar thefts have also been reported.

A few years ago, a Suvarnabhumi Airport security screener was caught and fired for attempting to steal money from a passenger’s wallet.

Story: The Phuket News



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  1. Luggage handlers stealing at Thai airports have been an ongoing issue for as long as there have been airports in Thailand.

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