Even our watcher watchers could not be trusted

At a travel agency, I chanced upon a magazine, ATW (Air Transport World) dated September 2005.

The fact that it was an American based magazine, I was really surprised to come across a report under its column “odds&ends” titled “It takes a Thief…” which was about the lack of security at KLIA!

For the benefit of those who have not read it (very likely) and those who have missed our local news report at the time, and as a reminder to the relevant authorities, here goes:

“Passengers at Kuala Lumpur International carrying on bigger and bigger bags are causing a problem for the airport, which reportedly has tried twice and failed to implement stricter carry-on rules in the past five years. Why would passengers do this? Perhaps it has something to do with the 3,067 cases of baggage theft at KLIA in the past four years – more than two per day – that have been cited in reports, with 166 airline and airport personnel arrested in that period.

Given the larger number of people now monitoring and searching baggage, and the wider latitude they have to open bags for a hand search (remember the quaint notion of locked luggage?), it seems that the opportunity to alienate passengers further by stealing their stuff has increased as well. Already agitated by repeated security screenings and delays, passengers who end their journeys with less than they started with have a right to be riled.

Earlier this year, though, KLIA authorities got a break. But what was discovered drove home the need to watch the watchers, and sometimes the watcher watchers.

The break started in the baggage of a Hong Kong passenger who discovered his laptop was gone. In its place was a nice set of keys – airport keys, as it turned out – quickly traced to a senior security officer who just as quickly was arrested at his home. At the same time, two of his fellow security guards were busted in their homes, where “an array of stolen items” was recovered. All three were longtime airport security workers. The most senior, with 25 years’ experience, was a watcher watcher, a member of special task force formed to bust foreign syndicates stealing baggage at the airport.

While dropping your keys at the scene of the crime might seem a tad inept, Malaysian officials said they believe the group has been stealing for 10 years, starting back at the old airport at Subang.”