A theft ring has been exposed at Miami International Airport (MIA), and the alleged culprits are none other than three TSA agents. According to jail records, Labarrius Williams, 33, Elizabeth Fuster, 22, and Josue Gonzalez, 20 were arrested last Thursday. They were charged with the crime of organized schemes to defraud and booked into Miami’s Turner Guilford Knight Detention Center.
3 TSA officers arrested at Miami International Airport for allegedly stealing from passengers https://t.co/kDAFAqM3WP
— CBS News Miami (@CBSMiami) July 8, 2023
Miami-Dade police began investigating after they were contacted by MIA’s federal security director for law enforcement. He reported that there were thefts occurring within the airport that likely involved TSA agents at Security Checkpoint E.
Police viewed surveillance video provided by the TSA, which they claim showed the trio of bandits conspiring with one another about best theft practices. Authorities say that one agent would distract passengers while the other officers raided their belongings. According to police, Fuster and Gonzalez claimed the practice would earn them up to $1,000 per day.
One incident caught on video purportedly showing Williams and Gonzalez removing $600 in cash from the wallet of an unwitting traveler.
More video evidence, which has yet to be made publicly available, is said to show the three TSA agents engaging in “several” instances of the same behavior.
After this discovery, Williams, Fuster and Gonzalez were taken to the TSA Command Center for formal interviews. Fuster and Gonzalez opted to waived their rights and provided written confessions. Williams, however, refused to provide anything and did not relinquish his rights.
This is hardly the first time TSA agents have been implicated in illegal activity
Last March, a TSA agent was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for attempting to smuggle $8,000 of methamphetamine through LAX.
In 2012, former TSA officer Pythias Brown was found guilty of stealing over $800,000 worth of items from passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The thefts were only discovered when an item Brown had posted for sale on eBay was spotted by its rightful owner.
“It was so easy,” Brown told ABC News in 2012. “I walked right out of the checkpoint with a Nintendo Wii in my hand. Nobody said a word.
“[My co-workers] didn't think it was okay, but they [stole too] and said, ‘I don't care. [Travelers] ain't paying me. They're treating me wrong.’ But then when people started seeing they could profit off of it, then it became massive.”
All three suspects have since bonded out of jail.
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/VjAw3RY
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