Cargo thieves caught at Bradley

THIEVES working at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, US for Delta Airlines and Delta Global Services have been caught by state police.

The 11-strong group had been stealing a wide variety of items from the cargo holds of planes since 2006, according to statements given to the police.

Working in pairs the group mainly targeted late-arriving aircraft that would stay at the airport overnight.

Forty-five thefts were reported from January to September 2008, at which point the state police launched an investigation. State police Lt. J. Paul Vance said that the size of the criminal operation was “unprecedented”.

“This is a first in Connecticut,” he said.

All those arrested had cleared their background checks. Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the federal Transportation Security Administration, said that while the checks had been undertaken properly they don’t predict future behaviour.

“It’s a background check,” she said. “We don’t have crystal balls. We don’t know what kinds of decisions these individuals are going to make in the future.”

Susan Elliott, a Delta spokeswoman, said: “We take situations like this very seriously and we moved very quickly to get to the bottom of this.”

The thieves claim that they started stealing when Delta Global Services reduced wages, angering employees.