'It's like a flea market for airport employees': More than 200 items stolen every DAY from checked baggage at JFK airport.

'It's like a flea market for airport employees': More than 200 items stolen every DAY from checked baggage at JFK airport.(DM).It’s one of the busiest airports in the world, but it's fast earning a tarnished reputation.More than 200 thefts occur daily at the New York City airport, law enforcement officials told CBS New York.
What’s worse is that these thefts are not being reported – rather, the airlines involved write the stolen items off as ‘lost luggage.’JFK security lawyer Kenneth Mollins told CBS New York: ‘The belly of the airplane has become like a flea market for airport employees. 'They go in there and go through all the luggage unencumbered.’
He is representing Rita Lamberg, a passenger who had more than $160,000 worth of jewellery stolen from her checked bag at JFK.
Ms Lamberg told CBS New York that thinking of her stolen belongings makes her ‘so sick. This is a lifetime of savings, my savings,’ she said.
Former NYPD Frank Shea confirmed Mr Mollins’ story, saying that checked baggage is a treasure trove for thieves, since there is often little to no repercussion
‘What we’re seeing out there is that really anything that isn’t nailed down is being stolen and for that matter, I would caution… if there weren’t tires missing from the aircraft,’ Mr Shea told the station.
The CBS report states that the airlines aren’t reporting these thefts because it would discourage customers from flying. Instead, they tell customers that their bags were lost in transit.
The report notes that when airline employees are looking for a bag from which to steal, they often go for designer or expensive-looking suitcases.What's worse - after a bag is checked, there is little customers can do to protect their belongings.
Current TSA screening mandates require the government organisation to inspect any and all bags they choose.
Checked baggage with unapproved locks will be removed if the TSA needs to inspect the luggage. Many travellers have said their luggage is returned to them without the lock on it.
As a result of the report, the airport says they will be installing more cameras to catch the thieves.
In 2010, police charged veteran American Airlines worker Henry Ibarra for stealing nearly $8,000 worth of items from bags.Among the stolen items: iPods, Kindle readers, DVD players, cameras, and Nintendo gaming systems. He worked as part of the airline’s clean-up crew for 41 years.Hmmmmm........The TSA has been criticized for an increase in baggage theft after its inception. Reported thefts include both valuable and dangerous goods, such as laptops, jewelry guns, and knives. Such thefts have raised concerns that the same access might allow bombs to be placed aboard aircraft.
In 2004, over 17,000 claims of baggage theft were reported. As of 2004, 60 screeners had been arrested for baggage theft, a number which had grown to 200 screeners by 2008. 11,700 theft and damage claims were reported to the TSA in 2009, a drop from 26,500 in 2004, which was attributed to the installation of cameras and conveyor belts in airports.
As of 2011, the TSA employs about 60,000 screeners in total (counting both baggage and passenger screening) and approximately 500 TSA officers have been fired or suspended for stealing from passenger luggage since the agency's creation in November 2001. The most affected airports are in the New York area – John F. Kennedy International Airport JFK, LaGuardia Airport LGA and Newark Liberty International Airport EWR.Source Here.Read the full story here.
In 2008 an investigative report by WTAE in Pittsburgh discovered that despite over 400 reports of baggage theft, about half of which the TSA reimbursed passengers for, not a single arrest had been made. The TSA does not, as a matter of policy, share baggage theft reports with local police departments...........Theft Serves All?