A passenger on an American Airlines flight reportedly stole more than $10,000 in cash and two credit cards from people on the plane.
The flight crew reported that Diego Sebastian Radio behaved suspiciously during the nine and a half hour flight from Buenos Aires to Miami. Radio “walked up and down the aisle of the plane repeatedly” and sat in a seat he had not been assigned for part of the journey, crew members said.
Radio was also spotted carrying ‘what looked like a female purse’, according to the Daily mail†
When the plane landed, Radio was tipped off and his backpack was searched. Authorities found $10,732 in cash and 14,320 in Argentine pesos, worth about $110. In addition, they discovered two credit cards that did not belong to him.
Authorities also interviewed crew members and asked passengers to check if they were missing items from their hand luggage. Two passengers said they were missing cash and credit cards and that one of their wallets had been unzipped.
The credit cards Radio found matched the names of two passengers, according to… court documents†
Radio was arrested by US Customs and Border Patrol.
He was beaten for theft.
According to travel blogger Ben Schlappig, who runs One mile at a timeTheft on flights is more common than most passengers think.
“If you’re going to be traveling with more than $10,000 worth of currency, you should probably keep that in your immediate area, rather than stuff it in a bag and keep it in an overhead bin,” Schlappig said.
‘Many people assume that theft on board is not very common, because you are in such a tight space and always have an eye on you. On the contrary, I think that often works to the advantage of thieves.
“People are not that observant because they think they are safe, people often don’t wonder if someone is opening a bag and people often store bags behind them.”
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