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When you get home after a trip from San Jose have you found things missing from your baggage? From AM Costa Rica this morning.

Police discover loot pilfered from airline passengers
By Elise Sonray
and the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Airport police and airline officials have been flooded with complaints from passengers whose luggage had been rifled on flights from Juan Santamaría international airport.

Tuesday police said they discovered at least $4,000 worth of valuables they suspect were stolen from passengers suitcases.

Police said they found the items in a truck driven by two employees who worked for a private company that hired workers to load and unload baggage for various airlines at the airport, said a security spokesman. Police could not detain the employees because no victims have filed formal complaints, said a security spokesman Wednesday evening.

The spokesman did say airport police began to investigate because of the high numbers of complaints they had been receiving.

Police in Costa Rica generally will not act until a victim visits the Judicial Investigating Organization intake department and files a lengthy description of
the crime. In the case of the airport thefts, many victims were tourists who were leaving the country.

Airport police seized four digital cameras, a digital video camera, mini DVD player, two cellular phones, an MP4 player, four watches, and a Palm Pilot, among other things Tuesday, according to the security spokesman.

Airport police sized the items from a vehicle checkpoint when they received a tip that the stolen items were removed by truck. Police said they found the items hidden in plastic bags under the seats in a truck used by two employees of a private company to leave the airport.

Police believe there are more employees involved in the case, said a spokesman, and that it may have been going on for sometime.

Police are now investigating the case and will be able to do more if victims claim their items and file formal complaints, said the spokesman. Police are trying to determine the owners of the items.

Anyone with information or missing items can call 2442-0575, the airport security office,the spokesman said.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I suppose it shouldn't come as any surprise.

2 things:

1. You should NEVER keep electronics in your checked bags. First reason is that they toss the luggage around like footballs, so they may break. And secondly, they may steal valuable things, at any airport, not just SJO.

2. Get a good luggage lock. There are TSA-approved ones that have an indicator to show if they have been opened.

On my first trip back from SJO, my bag appeared to have been opened and my items were moved around... Upon further examination, my small bottles of perfume had been lifted... They were very inexpensive, but the theft really pissed me off... Now I always pack light and carry my bags with me...

Sometimes we have very little choice but to pack expensive things in our checked luggage. For those that live here, we tend to bring back a lot of stuff we can't get here, and while we carry on the most expensive and/or fragile items, a lot of it ends up going into checked luggage.

I feel fortunate that i've not had a problem yet.. but this is disconcerting.

as orange said, its prudent not to put anything of value in your checked on luggage no matter where in the world you fly. not just san jose. this has been a problem in the US for a long time.
as far as the tsa locks go, they can still open the bags so i don't think this helps much. if you get your bag and see it has been tampered with, how could you figure out if it happened where you came from or where you just arrived. still a license to steal for baggage handlers.
at least in sjo it sounds like someone is watching.

A thought:

They have the plastic wrapping of luggage prior to entering the airport. I've always wondered how you would get through customs?

Someone who has used their service, would this help to ensure protection of your items if you had to pack expensive things in checked luggage?

My luggage has always been rearranged when I open it at home. I always assumed it was customs. they are sorely disappointed if they expect to find anything in my checked bags.

_________________
It's not the size of the wand that put the rabbit in the hat, it's the magic in it!!!

If TSA decides to check your plastic wrapped luggage they cut off the plastic, perform their inspection, leave a card indicating your bag was inspected inside your luggage, have it rewrapped in plastic at no charge to you.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Orange wrote:


And third, individual airline policies specifically exclude many valuable items from their liability and cap their damages at a set amount.

I did notice while coming back from SJO they had a team of security guards patting down the guys up inside of the plane loading baggage once they came down.

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Now, I am back in the game!

I always make sure I have plenty of old soiled crusty dirty underwear scattered thru my bags to discourage this type of activity . Why waste time to wash clothes in CR when you can let those dirty shirts with BO help you? Anything of real value is a no brainer, must be carried on.

_________________
"Run silent, run deep"
Spunk glazed Chicas are the building blocks of the universe!

I read an article a few years ago about all the thefts at Miami International credited to the "ramparos". They said they considered it just a "fringe benefit" of the job.

They said if they passed on a bottle of booze or some other "gift" to their supervisor from time to time he wouldn't say anything.

My ex lost a bottle of cologne she had bought for her father on a flight from MIA to Cali. On the way back they wanted to inspect her bag AFTER she had it wrapped in plastic before leaving Cali. They put a 1 inch slice in her bag with a razor.

As for TSA, I have had my bags checked a couple times (before I bought TSA locks). They cut off my old locks and left a card inside saying that they were the ones who had been in there. Of course I NEVER pack anything of value in checked luggage. Anything of value goes in my carry-on.

As for getting into a locked bag, most bags can be opened by shoving a ball-point pen into the plastic zipper then opened. When they are done they just run the zipper back over and it's all closed up again.

A current article on MIA:
http://www.nbc6.net/news/15617249/detail.html

An older article on MIA:
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story. ... f556074958

TSA employees are not immune to "temptations":
Theft complaints persist at airport security checkpoints

Thefts from airport security checkpoints remain a top concern of air travelers, reports Keith L. Alexander, the Business Class columnist for The Washington Post (free registration). Alexander talks to passenger John Wright, who claims a $7,000 wedding ring was stolen from a bin on a conveyor belt of an X-ray checkpoint machine at Boston’s Logan International Airport. "I traveled 15 feet and lost a $7,000 diamond wedding ring,” Wright says. “They (Transportation Security Administration workers) looked on the ground and conveyor belt. Nothing. I thought I was in a secure area." Now Wright has filed a lawsuit against the TSA seeking reimbursement for the ring and attorney’s fees. The TSA has refused to comment on Wright’s case.

Alexander writes that “since 2003, 130 screeners have been fired for stealing, 53 of them from January to Oct. 18 of 2005.” TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis says that out of the 80,000 screeners who have worked for the agency since 2002, the number of employees fired for theft is an "incredibly small percentage.” Davis adds that fliers who think they’ve had an item stolen should not only contact the TSA, but also fill out a local police report.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/2006/01/t ... laint.html