Victim reports loss after disembarking and realising money and watches were taken from his stowed bag
CLIFFORD.LO@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Monday, 02 May, 2016, 1:47pm
The Emirates flight arrived from Dubai on Monday morning. Photo: SCMP Pictures
An expatriate arriving from the Middle East could be the biggest victim of an inflight theft after HK$2 million in foreign currency and valuables were stolen from his bag aboard a Hong Kong-bound flight.
The Post has learnt a 39-year-old man was travelling on board an Emirates flight from Dubai to Hong Kong on Monday when the money and valuables were stolen from his bag stowed in an overhead bin.
After the plane landed at Hong Kong International Airport and he disembarked, he realised the money and valuables in his bag were missing and sought help from airline staff who called police at about 6am.
“Initial investigation showed two watches and more than US$200,000 were stolen from his bag and the total value was about HK$2 million,” a source with knowledge of the investigation said.
Police were treating the case as theft and investigating. So far, no one has been arrested.
The source said it could be the costliest case of inflight theft in recent years as most reported losses in the past were valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, not millions.
Late last year, local police and airlines joined forces to combat a soaring number of in-flight thefts.
In the first 10 months of last year, there were 67 reports of thefts on flights into Hong Kong, with HK$4.83 million stolen. That compared with 48 cases and HK$2.61 in losses for the whole of 2014.
Another source said that in the past well-dressed criminals posing as travellers stole valuables and money from bags stowed in planes’ storage compartments.
“They scouted their prey before boarding and placed their own bags in the same overhead bins their targets used,” he said. “They searched through travel bags and luggage in the lockers when the owners were asleep or in the toilet.”
It was understood that such thieves usually took aisle seats.
Police appealed to the public to keep an eye on their belongings while travelling and ensure they kept their valuables and cash with them.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1940478/stolen-mid-air-hong-kong-bound-passenger-loses-hk2-million
