Miami, United States
A CCTC footage allegedly showing TSA agents working together to steal articles from bags as they went through security at Miami International Airport has surfaced on multiple social media platforms.
Florida State Attorney's Office released the surveillance video, showing security agents carefully opening bags and stealing items belonging to passengers before the CT scan.
The police arrested the three agents, Labarrius Williams, 33, Josue Gonzalez, 20 and Elizabeth Fuster, 22, in July. However, according to CBS, the authorities had to drop charges against Fuster and released her. They booked the accused agents under 'organised scheme to defraud' charges.
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The CCTV footage, dated July 29, is almost 20 minutes of recording showing Williams and Gonzales stealing things from the bags at the airport. The video has been circulating across social media platforms, like X and Instagram.
The clips show a TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agent opening a small pocket at the front of a bag on the conveyor belt, taking out a wallet, pushing the bag through the CT scanner, and putting his hands in his pocket.
Another clip shows two agents focusing on one corner of one of the security trays, and one of them putting an item into his pocket.
In the US, airport security agents are caught on camera stealing from passengers’ bags at Miami Intl Airport — a horrible exploitation of the way in which security is implemented (and how bags are often sent through much faster than passengers) pic.twitter.com/yZP2GIKxEu
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) September 14, 2023
The arrest report states the Miami International Airport's federal security depositor contacted Miami-Dade Police after the constant stealings at the security checkpoint on Concourse E.
David Caban, a passenger, said, "I think they have a lot of nerve because don't they realise they're on camera."
According to the police report, the duo allegedly removed $600 from a passenger's wallet while the passenger was under the screening process. The report also said they would distract the passengers during screening to steal cash from their belongings."
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) commented on the incident, "TSA has removed the officers from screening duties pending completion of the investigation and administrative actions."
The statement by TSA also said, "The Transportation Security Administration holds its Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to the highest professional and ethical standards and has no tolerance for misconduct in the workplace," the statement read.
"We actively and aggressively investigated these misconduct allegations and presented our findings to the Miami Dade Police Department, and are working closely with them. Any employee who fails to meet our fundamental ethical standards is held accountable," it added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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