Slashdot Mirror


TSA Employee Stole $50k Worth of Electronics

mrquagmire writes "A Continental Airlines employee Monday caught Nelson Santiago-Serrano, 30, stealing an iPad from a suitcase in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office. Over the past six months, Santiago-Serrano told authorities he stole $50,000 worth of computers, GPS devices and other electronics from luggage he screened, took pictures of them to post for sale online and sold the items often by the time his shift ended."

45 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Your government dollars at work. by Pharmboy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thank god for the TSA. I feel safer already.

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    1. Re:Your government dollars at work. by tqk · · Score: 2

      Something like this is bound to happen occasionally whether the TSA does the screening or someone else.

      He's in an airport, one of the most heavily CCTV'd places on 21st Century Earth, was only caught because a sharp eyed employee noticed, and he got away with it for six months, after stealing $50,000, while advertising his stolen wares on the web.

      You're an idiot!

      --
      "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
    2. Re:Your government dollars at work. by tqk · · Score: 2

      ... while advertising his stolen wares on the web.

      ... and selling them while "at work." FFS!

      --
      "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
  2. TSA = Dumbasses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Gee, I wonder if the TSA will still claim, "our boys followed procedure, we stand behind them."

    What a laughing stock the TSA has become.

  3. once again, we ask - by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 2

    Who watches the watcher? No, do not look in the direction of Washington DC. Nobody there cares.

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
    1. Re:once again, we ask - by sco08y · · Score: 4, Informative

      Who watches the watcher? No, do not look in the direction of Washington DC. Nobody there cares.

      First off DC is not the only place to look. Texas has put together an "anti-groping" bill, supported by the governor. At least two presidential candidates have proposed abolishing it altogether. And there's a bill in the House aimed at making TSA agents liable for unwanted physical contact.

      That's just from a quick search... there are plenty of legislators who are interested in reforming the TSA, but the specifics of how the TSA is run is the executive branch's responsibility, so you should probably write the President.

    2. Re:once again, we ask - by IonOtter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except that Texas chickened out and backed off. The TSA threated to designate the entire state of Texas a "no-fly zone".

      However, it would seem that a few legislators actually used their brains and thought about that for a moment, and decided to push the issue and call the government's bluff.

      I mean, seriously. Who actually believes that the feds would actually BAN all flights in and out of Texas?

      Please...

      --
      [End Of Line]
  4. Security FAIL by putaro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If they can take something out without getting caught, they could be putting something in. Who would bother with suicide bombs if they can slip it into the luggage?

    1. Re:Security FAIL by lunchlady55 · · Score: 2

      Key Words: "As a passenger"

      You think they check EVERY meal cart as it's brought in by truck from some local food service contractor? What about the fuel tankers? What about the gift shop merch? As an EMPLOYEE it's probably really easy to sneak stuff in. You're part of the chain of trust, and as everyone knows, it's only as strong as the weakest link.

    2. Re:Security FAIL by Culture20 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      10 to 1 the TSA agents don't have to submit to a grope or back scatter every morning when they start work. There should be three man teams, randomly assembled every day who have access to baggage. All other TSA agents should should not be able to see baggage let alone touch it. Otherwise, it is a security hole like GP mentioned.

    3. Re:Security FAIL by Pharmboy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I have a better idea: Only screen for explosives, and let passengers carry weapons on the plane. Then we don't need the TSA gropes and terrorists don't stand a chance.

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    4. Re:Security FAIL by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was going to subscribe to your newsletter, but then I thought about how many dead uppity stewardesses would result from armed passengers, and then I really wanted to subscribe to your newsletter.

    5. Re:Security FAIL by whoever57 · · Score: 2

      Actually, it is worse. The TSA agents are screened when their shift starts, then, they are allowed to leave the screening area and return to the secure area without re-screening. They can go and get their lunch and return without screening.

      So the screening they receive in the morning is irrelevant.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    6. Re:Security FAIL by mabhatter654 · · Score: 2

      They definitely shouldn't be able to enter or leave the secure area with anything other than an ID badge. That is the parent's point.. If they can walk away from their station and post a stolen item to eBay, what can they TAKE BACK?

      Remember, 9/11 used boxcutters that were not even illegal, left on food carts... This act completely invalidates the security zone. It IS a TERRORIST SYMPATHATIC act. Just like raising your voice because you can't boob milk!

    7. Re:Security FAIL by erroneus · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's a huge lie. HUGE lie.

      TSA screeners are screened themselves upon entering a secure area each and every time. Now, if they eat their meals within the airport (which is likely to be considered a secure area) they can return to work unmolested. But if they go outside, they have to get screened again.

  5. Think of how many terrorists he stopped though! by jergason · · Score: 3, Funny

    Think of how many terrorists he stopped though!

    1. Re:Think of how many terrorists he stopped though! by ae1294 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Think of how many terrorists he stopped though!

      Yeah those apple lovers piss me off too!

    2. Re:Think of how many terrorists he stopped though! by MikeBabcock · · Score: 2

      Selling those bombs on ebay saved lives of passengers on-board the plane :)

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  6. How many get away with it? by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My luggage gets searched all the time. I'm pretty sure they've never taken anything - at least not anything I've ever missed - from my luggage. But really, if something was taken I wouldn't have any recourse for it. Who would you report it to? How would you prove it was there to begin with? Being as you release your checked bags before you even go through security, and they pass through multiple hands before they even get on to your plane, there is a chain of inaccountability. Even if you did something obscure but unique to identify your property you still wouldn't be able to prove who took it by the time it showed up on the black market.

    And of course, if you're like me and you don't live near a hub airport - therefore you need to take connections all the time - you and your luggage go through that many more sets of gates and hands before getting to your destination.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:How many get away with it? by GNUman · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I once had a Sony PSP and an iPod stolen from my baggage on a Continental Airlines flight going out from Newark Airport (Yes, I should've taken them in my carry on, I had no space left and was overly trusting).

      I complained to Continental Airlines and they basically said "Tough luck, we don't go through your baggage, it's the TSA. Take it up with them." They added "We do recommend our passengers to avoid putting any electronics in their baggage".

      TSA has a form you can fill to file a complaint. It includes sending the receipts of your stolen objects and witnesses that confirm you did have them in your baggage and witnesses that confirm they were not there when you arrived. Then they supposedly "start an investigation".

      I had lost the receipts of my items and being outside the US it was difficult to go to the store and try to get a copy. So I never submitted the papers. I did learn my lesson. Never put electronics in your baggage, it will come up in scans and become an excuse for someone to open it.

    2. Re:How many get away with it? by stephanruby · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You should have submitted the papers anyway. It doesn't matter if they're properly filled out, or not. It's not like they were going to reimburse you anyway. You fill out the papers, so that at least, your incident gets recorded in their statistics.

      Often times, authorities try to dissuade you from filling out paperwork, bad statistics make their bosses look bad, but then again, if no incident is ever recorded or filed, it's as if your incident never even officially occurred.

    3. Re:How many get away with it? by chihowa · · Score: 2

      Contact the police (the real police, not the TSA goons) that are located at the airport. Skip the TSA forms altogether and file a police report.

      My wife had a laptop stolen from her bag (why did she pack a laptop in check baggage!?!?). We reported it to the local police who had jurisdiction over the airport and a detective was extremely interested and helpful. The information we provided helped to crack a little group of TSA agents at the airport who had been doing this for several weeks. They never found the laptop (it had been sold immediately), though.

      Anyway, contact the local police. If this happens once at the airport, it probably happens several times and they'd love to close all of those cases.

      --
      If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
  7. Over the past six months by Arancaytar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Over the past six months, Santiago-Serrano told authorities he stole $50,000 worth of computers,

    If he's been confessing for that long, you'd think they'd have stopped him before!

    (Sponsored by the grammar police)

  8. TSA: taking freedom so terrorists don't have to by mykos · · Score: 5, Funny

    Being molested, xrayed, shown naked on a screen, and robbed is a small price to pay to keep terrorists from taking away my freedom!

  9. Did you really figure by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Dressing them in a uniform and giving them arrest-authority would suddenly make a poorly educated, under-class person magically transform into an upstanding middle-class person with a passion for doing their job to the best of their abilities?

    --
    Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
    1. Re:Did you really figure by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 2

      Still missing it... When people speak in generalities they are almost always granting the possibility of outliers though I specifically spelled that out for you. Your example was just such a thing. Your tone and communication skills quite obviously place your class.

      --
      Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once ... with negative results.
  10. How to avoid the TSA thieves by kwiqsilver · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If you must fly, here's what to do:
    • Buy a hard plastic or metal suitcase with locks.
    • Buy a pistol, if you don't have one already. (A starter pistol, which has no legal restrictions on ownership or purchase in any state, works just as well).
    • Put your pistol in the suitcase, check-in at the counter, and tell the airline rep you have a firearm to declare.
    • Fill out the card that says your firearm is unloaded, put it in your suitcase, and lock it (with real locks, not TSA-approved ones), while the airline rep watches.
    • Walk down to the TSA screener with the airline rep, and hand your bag over.
    • The TSA screener will scan your bag while you wait. If there's a need to open it, the screener will have you open it, and will look through the bag while you watch.

    It is illegal for them to open your bag without you being present, if you have a firearm declared. (I guess the government doesn't trust the TSA near guns...if only they'd expand that mistrust to all the federal alphabet soup criminals).

    I discovered this accidentally, because I usually take at least one pistol whenever I fly anywhere, and have been using it ever since. If I'm going some place anti-gun, like Chicago or CA, I take a firearm component, like a barrel, which still has to be checked the same way, but can't get me into trouble on the trip.

    1. Re:How to avoid the TSA thieves by kwiqsilver · · Score: 4, Informative

      They tend to treat me like I'm crazy. But then, I don't look anything like a cop; I look like a slacker software engineer.

      A few years ago at Sea-Tac, I had an Alaska rep tell me I couldn't check in a firearm. We had to call her boss over. Fortunately he was familiar with the form, and knew what to do. And the first rep was very apologetic and friendly after. And the best part is: nobody stole the external HDD out of my suitcase!

      I also recommend printing out a copy of the TSA page on flying with firearms, in case you get somebody who doesn't have a clue.

    2. Re:How to avoid the TSA thieves by macshit · · Score: 4, Informative

      When I fly out of Narita, they seem to do the baggage exam before checkin, which seems a much better system.

      Baggage is x-rayed upon entering the checkin area, and if they're suspicious, they pull you aside to a table and have you open the suitcase and go through it. The examiner just watches, giving directions as needed (indeed, it's very clear they're under orders not to touch anything), and asks you to explain anything unusual. It works very well, and gives real peace of mind.

      --
      We live, as we dream -- alone....
    3. Re:How to avoid the TSA thieves by Obfuscant · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I also recommend printing out a copy of the TSA page on flying with firearms, in case you get somebody who doesn't have a clue.

      Fantastic. I think everyone who flies should carry one round of ammunition in an original package every time they fly. The rule that TSA will inspect the package at the ticket counter will cause a massive breakdown in the TSA system, as all TSA operatives will be up at the ticket counter inspecting one round of ammunition each and nobody will be available to search bags and steal stuff. It will also require a personal escort to the CTX machines so that the passenger doesn't do anything to the now-searched baggage.

      Or, the checkin process will get so backed up that nobody will be able to fly anywhere.

    4. Re:How to avoid the TSA thieves by erroneus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That's an excellent point, actually. I knew this but it never actually occurred to me that the fact can be utilized in this way. (I wanted to say "methodized" but I'm not sure that's a work which is real enough... I like the word though.) Yes, as a former TSA screener operating out of Texas, I have a few interesting gun stories... at least they were interesting to me at the time. Most of them stem from people with CHLs who FORGOT they brought their pistols with them (all of them women) and decided to check their carry-on with the pistol in the bag... usually loaded.

      But when people did check their firearms properly, they did get the red carpet treatment. Part of the reason for this is the mentality that they are wannabe cops. Some actually call themselves "federal agents." It's sick and stupid but also quite true.

      Personally, I have always felt that carrying the gear with you was the best way to go, but this is giving me cause to reconsider.

      As for the security of your things, I still can't say that I have ever witnessed a condition which enabled people to steal things so easily as described in the article. At my airport, there were eyes pretty much everywhere and co-workers were likely to snitch on one another. (Proof positive that they aren't cops right?)

      But with that said, there was a huge bust as my airport that occurred while I was there which involved baggage handlers. They were stealing tool boxes, golf clubs and rummaging through TSA screened luggage after the TSA passed them on. So if the airline says "don't look at us, look to the TSA" that's not the full truth of the matter.

      I'm not here to defend the TSA or its screeners, but I would like to remind people that the TSA isn't a single hive mind of trained professionals. They are a bunch of people from different walks of life but most of which are the same [types] of people who might serve you at a burger restaurant. And the rule for dealing with restaurant people is pretty much the same as dealing with the TSA -- treat them with respect and kindness as you are being served or else you could end up with results you don't care for. But when the service is done, feel free to express your opinions and views.

    5. Re:How to avoid the TSA thieves by Loundry · · Score: 3, Funny

      But when the service is done, feel free to express your opinions and views..

      My rapist said the same thing to me.

      --
      I don't make the rules. I just make fun of them.
    6. Re:How to avoid the TSA thieves by kwiqsilver · · Score: 2

      My rapist said the same thing to me.

      Was your rapist wearing a blue polyester shirt with a sewn-own badge with blue rubber gloves, and hanging out at the airport? Mine was.

  11. Re:Funny That by todrules · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, if you really want it to get there, buy a starter pistol and pack it in the suitcase. Then, you have to declare that you have a firearm when you check it. Believe me, that suitcase will have tons of security. Nobody will steal anything from there. Also, since it's a starter pistol and not a real pistol, you don't have to worry about the gun laws in the state you are traveling to.

  12. Why doesn't the American Media Corporation.... by sgt_doom · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...which really is the sole source of what passes for MainStreamMedia in the US, ever report that the organization which vets, or does the background checks for the TSA, is Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater USA??? Never, never will they ever report that very crucial fact, which may be why over 55 sky marshals (the doods with the guns aboard the jetliners) have been fired, and/or convicted and jailed for everything from human trafficking, to drug smuggling, rape, etc., etc.? Blackwater OK's the crooks, so the TSA is full of crooks.

    1. Re:Why doesn't the American Media Corporation.... by nmb3000 · · Score: 3, Informative

      ...which really is the sole source of what passes for MainStreamMedia in the US, ever report that the organization which vets, or does the background checks for the TSA, is Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater USA??? Never, never will they ever report that very crucial fact, which may be why over 55 sky marshals (the doods with the guns aboard the jetliners) have been fired, and/or convicted and jailed for everything from human trafficking, to drug smuggling, rape, etc., etc.? Blackwater OK's the crooks, so the TSA is full of crooks.

      Interesting, but I'm curious why none of this is mentioned on either the Blackwater nor the TSA Wikipedia pages. Nothing even on the discussion pages.

      Black helicopters invading Wikipedia, or something more mundane?

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
    2. Re:Why doesn't the American Media Corporation.... by c6gunner · · Score: 2, Informative

      ...which really is the sole source of what passes for MainStreamMedia in the US, ever report that the organization which vets, or does the background checks for the TSA, is Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater USA???

      Yeah, those goddamn MainStreamMedia refuse to publish bullshit that you just pulled out of your ass! Imagine that!

      Whoever modded you "interesting" should be shot for being fatally credulous.

  13. Please cite your sources by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 3, Informative

    Please cite the source of your information.

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
  14. Re:Funny That by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 4, Funny

    Actually, if you really want it to get there, buy a starter pistol and pack it in the suitcase.

    Don't try to commit suicide with it, though. It'll get you detention.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  15. Re:In other news by bussdriver · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Died of old age?
    Millions of americans haven't died for their rights. WW2 and the civil war didn't even come close.

    Perhaps you were thinking of the millions America has actually killed to build and maintain its empire? Or the greater numbers of indirect killings? The two recent wars this last decade killed over a million; unsurprisingly, we don't keep count... and with poor records its difficult to prove it all (yet the number proven is still really high and the estimates have been over a million for many years now.)

  16. Tequila by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's not so much an outrage of the theft of items from baggage, it happens from time to time and sometimes it's the handlers. It's clearly wrong and clearly theft.

    What's really interesting is all the stuff being confiscated, like this politician's bottle of tequila. OK, he shouldn't have brought it on board the plane, but what's really telling is that they take it and noone knows what happens with it afterwards. Sure they will have plenty of pictures of the cheap stuff getting destroyed. But who's going to miss the small percentage actual good stuff that gets taken home and sold/given/traded with friends or acquaintances?

  17. Liberty safely removed... by Gription · · Score: 5, Insightful

    More to the point:
    There is no valid reason that I shouldn't be able to demand that my property be inspected in my presence and then be allowed to lock it securely before it is trundled off to the baggage handlers. Even if the TSA was above reproach, baggage handlers are not a group to be blindly trusted either.

    There are events that I used to go to by air that I can't go to anymore. When you are traveling an item that a fingerprint can cause $2000 of damage to either you drive or you don't go.

  18. I'm not the least bit surprised. by dotfile · · Score: 2

    Those cocksuckers swiped a camera from my bag several years ago. TSA pointed the finger at Continental, Continental pointed the finger at TSA. Both parties basically said "Tough shit". Baggage is only covered at $0.50 per pound -- but ANYTHING of any value is specifically excluded. So if they steal electronics, jewelry, anything other than basically clothing, it's just tough shit.

    Fuck 'em. I'd been a loyal Continental customer for years. After that incident and, shortly after that, trying in vain to find a way to actually use the many, many frequent flyer miles I had accumulated, I finally had had enough. Haven't set foot on a Continental flight nor given them a penny of revenue in several years now. Not that they cared in the slightest.

    My point when I complained about my missing shit was, if someone were willing to commit a felony for a box of Hot Tamales (the only other thing missing from my bag), what could I have put IN a bag for, say, $10K? How about $50K? Somehow these shitheads don't make me feel any safer flying.

  19. Re:In other news by Thing+1 · · Score: 2

    You know, I had the thought the other day that if we posted the names of the people that our country had killed, perhaps it might help motivate us to convince our country to perform fewer killings.

    --
    I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.