Baggage staff deny stealing suitcases

Three Emirates Airline employees face two charges of theft from passengers at Dubai International Airport.

DUBAI // Three Emirates Airline employees faced two charges of theft from passengers at Dubai International Airport yesterday, on top of a previous charge of stealing gold worth Dh3.8 million (US$1m). FR, 33, JA, 30, and FA, 24, all Pakistani baggage counter employees, denied stealing a suitcase containing 550 mobile phones worth more than Dh64,000, while FR and JA also denied stealing another suitcase containing 480 phones worth more than Dh196,000.

On August 16 the defendants appeared in court and denied stealing a suitcase containing the gold, which belonged to a Libyan man. According to prosecution documents, a 37-year-old Nigerian visitor said she had been told by FR to open her suitcase at the baggage counter because it was over the weight limit. The defendant then told her that he would help her and permit it to go through. Prosecutors allege the defendants produced stickers in JA's name which were put on bags they intended to steal. JA is alleged to have taken the suitcases to Pakistan to sell the contents.

A fourth suspect is on the run and is charged in both cases. Judge Hamad Abdel Latif adjourned the case until later this month. [e-mail]