Concerns about property safety have heightened after TSA agents were arrested for conspiring to steal from passengers as they journeyed through security checkpoints at the Miami International Airport.
Three agents from the Transportation Security Administration were apprehended after surveillance cameras caught the trio reportedly organizing the theft of passengers. In one instance, the three allegedly stole $600 from one passenger’s wallet, according to ABC affiliate WPLG Local 10.
Josue Gonzalez, 20, Elizabeth Fuster, 22, and Labarrius Williams, 33, were arrested on July 6 at MIA and charged with organized scheme to defraud, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
A probe was launched after multiple complaints to airport police about thefts at Checkpoint E, where the three TSA agents were eventually caught.
According to the news station and CBS Miami, the three suspects would deliberately distract a passenger’s attention while another one or two of them would rifle through the unsuspecting victim’s property for valuables and cash.
“The airport federal security director for law enforcement at MIA contacted a Miami-Dade Police detective regarding thefts that occurred at Checkpoint E involving TSA officers,” the statement, obtained by CBS Miami, reads. “The investigation revealed that three officers, while on duty, were seen on surveillance video conspiring together to distract passengers as they were being screened and stole money from their belongings.”
Gonzalez and Fuster have reportedly confessed to their crimes while Williams refused to speak with investigators.
Listen to the full report from WPLG:
