Baggage Handler Busted on Tape for Alleged Theft

Here’s a reminder to never pack anything valuable or irreplaceable in your checked luggage—a baggage handler at Minneapolis–St. Paul (MSP) airport was arrested this week for allegedly stealing $84,000 worth of stuff from flyers.

CBS News reports that David Vang, a 23-year old airport employee, faces 11 felony counts of theft, after he allegedly stole guns, jewelry, watches, and other valuables from passengers’ bags over an eight month period.

Vang reportedly stole from passengers who had connecting flights through MSP, which allowed him to avoid suspicion when things were reported missing—as a MSP Airport spokesman told CBS News, “If they found things missing from their luggage, they called the airport where the trip began or ended. They were not calling us.”

However, once Vang began stealing guns and weapons, police were alerted to the fact that the weapons were going missing at MSP—firearms cannot be checked inside luggage, but are checked separately and each gun is scanned with a unique baggage bar-code at multiple checkpoints in the baggage loading and unloading process. Investigators set up undercover cameras at MSP, and Vang was caught red-handed on tape filching items from suitcases, and hiding them to be retrieved later.

When police searched Vang’s apartment, they recovered over stolen 700 items.

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