Authorities Serve 25 Warrants In Major Crackdown On Baggage Thefts At LAX

If the number of posts we’ve done on airport baggage thefts are any indication, there’s a big problem at many of our country’s airports with sticky-fingered staff. Los Angeles International Airport is no exception, with authorities swooping in last night in a major crackdown effort aimed at nipping those thefts in the bud.

In what sounds like those movies where a bunch of uniformed cops bust in and start yelling at everyone but was probably a lot more calm, law enforcement arrested several people and served 25 search warrants in connection with the crackdown, reports ABC 7 in L.A.

The warrants were all served at different locations, while the arrests were made at the airport as well as areas around Los Angeles County.

Those arrested worked for different companies involved with contract service for the airport, and aren’t employees of LAX itself, say officials.

“It’s a disappointment, but a fact of life, that sometimes a few people will succumb to the temptations at LAX,” LAX Police Chief Patrick Gannon said in a statement. “The actions of these few do not represent the nearly 45,000 individuals who work for the nearly 350 employers here at LAX.”

This is all in response to a string of thefts investigators have been checking into — involving both LAX police and the LAPD — where travelers have found items missing from their checked luggage.

“We believe that there has been a culture maybe of being able to take property that wasn’t theirs, and that’s what we want to put a stop to,” said a captain with the Los Angeles Police Department. “LAX police and LAPD are committed to having a safe environment for the traveling public.”

Lucky for me I’ve got a contraption that will make your hands smell like a dirty diaper if you tamper with my luggage. I don’t really, but I might. So watch it, thieves.

LAX thefts case: 25 warrants served, multiple arrests made [ABC 7]

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