Scandal! Luggage theft on a Rome-Budapest flight, thieves caught in Italy

Bags and suitcases are often searched and stolen from on the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. In order to stop these, the Airport Police Directorate has been investigating and keeping an eye out for suspicious activities. In 2018, they observed how the luggage is handled for over 5000 planes.

According to Index, thefts have happened many times before on a Rome-Budapest flight. The situation was the same this past Thursday, too, when several bags arrived in Budapest that had obviously been searched, except this time, the perpetrators were caught in Italy.

Employees of the Airport Police Directorate checked in a bag in Rome to arrive in Budapest. They placed a wad of cash in it, with the notes getting a number each. After the plane had landed in Budapest, they noticed the money was missing. Baggage handlers working at the Budapest airport were searched, but none of them had the money. When the Italian authorities were notified, the baggage handlers of the Rome airport were also interrogated. It turns out they were the ones who found the numbered banknotes and decided to keep them.

Photo: bud.hu

Besides the police’s bait baggage, nine other bags were opened and looted. The valuables stolen from these bags were also found at the local workers.

Luggage thefts have been a serious issue for a long time now. Recently, a local employee opened up about the problem but also said that the chances of anything changing anytime soon are slim.

The airport police called attention to the fact that luggage thefts happen everywhere internationally. Their advice for passengers is to remove all money, jewellery, electronic devices and other valuables before they check their luggage in. It is best to do this, even if it turns out at the last minute that the baggage must go in the cargo compartment of the aircraft.

For more news, check out this article about the poor air quality in some Hungarian cities.

Source: index.hu