Milan,Italy,-baggage opened and values stolen!

[ice is nice]

My italian knowledge is poor so correct me if wrong, but however, I understand that about 40 italian teamwork baggage bimbos at Malpensa were caught stealing from bags for the last months. They were caught by using mini cameras and may face charges.

Is this only a isolated case or may we expect this to be the "normal standard" on other european airports too?


Here is the italian link;

http://it.news.yahoo.com/020824/58/1xfcq.html

[Brizzo]

Valuables stolen from baggage.

Pope Catholic

Bears cr@p in woods.



I'm not being unsympathetic, but it's as old as mass travel.

[BlueEagle]

Having spent a lifetime travelling I too learnt the hard way and was given some advice which I practised successfully and now pass on:

Always wrap a strong strap around your suitcase, one with a conventional fastning if possible, not a 'clip-in' type. The reason for this is threefold:

1. Thieves have limited time and space in which to work and don't have time to undo straps around cases, a pile of cut or otherwise broken straps would be damning evidence.

2. Thieves will sometimes have a suitably sharpened and shaped motor cycyle wheel spoke and a heavy object with which to knock out the hinge pin at the back of the suitcase, lift and separate the case, from the back just sufficient to feel around inside and remove anything that feels right, (to them), replace the hinge pin and when the case is claimed the owner has no idea that they have been robbed. A strap prevents this.

3. Even if you have not been robbed the strap can avoid the embarrassment of seeing your overfilled and now broken case going round the baggage belt and spilling all you personal items everywhere!

Avoid 'soft' suitcases if possible as these can be cut/torn whereas a solid one offers greater protection from thieves.

Always examine your bag as soon as it comes off the belt and if you suspect any kind of interference go straight to the baggage desk or company representative and report it before you leave the baggage hall - for all you know instead of taking something out they may have put something in!

[zed3]

That pin is very important. Most new suitcases now have a pin instead of hinges. A few years ago on returning from Curacao to Schiphol I found my wife's suitcase on the baggage belt at Schiphol with the pin half pushed out and realised that 1. either someone had tried to put something (drugs?) in the case at Curacao or 2. customs had been looking in at Schiphol. I now only have suitcases with good strong proper hinges , which are quite difficult to find although Samsonite does have one model like that.

[PAXboy]

I agree with Brizzo. It is to be expected in some parts of the world and often where you least expect it.

In the 1970s London's Heathrow airport was known around the globe as 'Thiefrow'. Then they realised that it was losing the carriers business and so they sharpened up their act. I dare say that this is one of the reasons that people try to bring so much junk into the cabine with them (see a thread running in SLF).

Blue Eagle, thanks for the tip about the Hinges and Pins.

[canberra]

if you want a good suitcase but dont want to spend a fortune the old bill reccomend buying an ex army one! personally if i was a tea leaf id steer clear of them, after all if someone uses one would they have anything worth nicking?