How was the pickpocket at the airport discovered?

Regarding the case of five baggage handlers at Noi Bai airport stealing items from passengers' suitcases in August 2023, the airport's report showed that the theft was recorded by security cameras.

Specifically, after receiving a complaint from passenger NMA (a German of Vietnamese origin) about the loss of property in checked baggage, Noi Bai airport security forces checked security camera data and identified a group of employees at the baggage handling area involved in the incident.

Nhân viên bốc xếp móc trộm đồ tại sân bay bị phát hiện như thế nào? - 1 — The baggage handling area at the airport, where baggage is loaded onto the conveyor belt and transferred to the baggage island inside the terminal (Photo: Ngoc Tan).

Verification results showed that Ms. NMA's checked baggage when arriving at baggage island number 4 was lifted off the conveyor belt by an employee of Hanoi Ground Services Joint Stock Company (HGS), and was returned after about 1.5 minutes.

Security cameras did not record the HGS employee's actions with the suitcase because it was obscured by the luggage cart.

However, based on the X-ray machine data, the security force discovered that the headphones that the passenger reported lost were taken out of the airport by the loading staff after their shift ended (all staff entering/exiting the airport must go through the X-ray machine).

At this point, the airport and the Northern Airport Authority have handed over the case to the police for further investigation.

After summoning the suspects and investigating, the police concluded that the stevedore NVT (under HGS) had directly stolen 500 Euros and a headphone from the passenger’s suitcase. The money was divided among 4 other employees by T., and the suspect took the headphone home to use.

These five people were later prosecuted but released on bail pending trial. Currently, the families of the defendants have handed over the stolen property to the police.

On HGS’s side, the company has suspended the work of the 5 employees mentioned above. All 5 people are employees with indefinite-term labor contracts. Calculating the total average income in the first 8 months of the year, each employee has an income of about 14.6 million VND/month.

After the incident, HGS added measures such as regulating which gate the loading and unloading staff enter and exit; not allowing staff to bring any items not on the list; adding responsibility to check employees' items...

After the incident, the Northern Airport Authority has planned to coordinate with Noi Bai Police Station to organize a working session on theft prevention with businesses in Noi Bai to disseminate and learn from this incident and supplement measures to prevent property theft in the future.

According to the police, the new method of theft at the airport is to target items of low value so that passengers do not report it. The stolen items will not be taken out immediately after the shift ends, but will be hidden in place and taken out at a convenient time.

Source