Baggage handler steals Dh800 worth of passengers' belongings

At Dubai Criminal Court the man admitted to stealing the items, which included iPhones, sunglasses and playing cards.

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A baggage handler stole an iPhone, a pair of sunglasses and two boxes of playing cards from an Emirates Airlines plane.

At Dubai Criminal Court on Sunday the Nepali man admitted to stealing the items which were left behind by passengers.

The 29-year-old said he began stealing passengers’ belongings in September last year after he noticed an open bag on a flight heading to Karachi, Pakistan and took a mobile phone from it.

In October last year he stole playing cards from an aircraft and in March this year he stole sunglasses left behind by a passenger.

He said he took the items for himself.

The man was caught after he stole two packs of playing cards – worth Dh4 - and iPhone 5s in April this year.

“We received a report from Emirates Airlines in March that the man was caught after he entered an aircraft pretending he wanted to drink water then stole sunglasses, when we questioned him, he admitted the other thefts,” said a police corporal, 31.

The 31-year-old said he searched the baggage handler’s residence where he found all of the stolen items, valued at Dh794.

The man will receive his verdict in court on July 30.