Ex-convict indicted for in-flight thefts

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-4-20 21:48:01

Prosecutors have indicted a convicted thief for stealing cash from passengers on commercial flights between Shanghai and other cities, local media reported Sunday.

Shanghai airport police arrested the suspect, surnamed Bai, 50, on a flight from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, on March 24, according to a report in the Shanghai Morning Post.

Police boarded the plane around 7:30 pm after it arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, the report said. They asked passengers to check their belongings to see if anything was stolen.

One passenger, surnamed Luo, reported that 8,700 yuan ($1,398) in cash was missing from his luggage. He said he had put the money in his bag and then stowed it in the overhead compartment before falling asleep in his seat.

Police searched the plane and found the cash in a garbage bag on one of the seats. One passenger later identified Bai as the thief.

Bai admitted that he stole the money by pretending to get something out of the overhead compartment. He also confessed that he had stolen from passengers on several other flights.

He said passengers on airplanes usually don't pay very close attention to their belongings.

It was unclear why police searched this particular flight. The report only mentioned that it was part of an ongoing crackdown on thefts aboard commercial flights.

Airport police received six theft reports in March from passengers on flights to or from Shanghai, the report said. In one case, a suspect stole as much as HK$200,000 ($25,800) from a passenger surnamed Chen.

The theft occurred on a flight from Shanghai to Macao. When the flight landed, Chen discovered that about half of the HK$400,000 he had brought on the flight was missing. He called the police after he returned to Shanghai.

It was unclear whether Bai was charged in this particular case.

Police said they were looking closely at flights from Shanghai to Hong Kong and Macao because their passengers often carry large amounts of cash.

Bai once served eight months in prison for committing theft on a bus.

Global Times

Posted in: Society, Metro Shanghai

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