Gang Arrested at Airport
Laptop Thiefdom recently bit the bullet at Malaysia’s KL International Airport. Using titillating, provocatively-dressed women as a distraction, a gang of Filipino baggage and laptop thieves were finally caught in the act and are now in Sepang police custody.
Officials there believe the bandits may have been at their cat-and-mouse game for some time: dozens of notebooks worth hundreds of thousands of ringgit have been reported stolen from the airport since KLIA opened its doors in 1998.
The group’s M.O. was actually quite simple: They casually went to the airport (accompanied by their shapely decoys) in search of males carrying briefcases or laptops, put the women to work (so to speak), and just walked off with their newest treasures, likely later to be taken apart and sold on the black market.
But just a few days ago, their salad days came to an end, when plainclothes security personnel literally watched the Philippine nationals carry off the entire heist before they stepped in and handed them over to police.
While two of the attractive women were busily distracting a 40-year-old male passenger and his friend, who were waiting to board a flight to Penang, one of the women lifted the laptop and passed it to her male accomplice, standing nearby. The three, aged 21, 26, and 29, were apprehended immediately.
The theft took place in the airport bar, where the would-be theft victim and his friend were having a drink.
Maybe that’s one anecdote the two won’t be so inclined to discuss back at the water cooler.
Related articles: – Arnie’s laptop stolen
– Secret laptop – Lost or stolen?
By Catherine Van Herrin
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Source – The Star Online – Malaysia news