Luggage Stolen from Toronto Airport

LLOYD ROBERTSON: It's a fear of every air traveller, lost luggage. But for people flying through Toronto recently, this was something different. They received their bags, but their expensive electronic equipment was gone. Police have charged seven baggage handlers at Pearson International Airport, all but one of them teenagers. As CTV's Denelle Balfour reports, it's a cautionary tale for air travellers, don't pack valuables you don't want stolen.

DENELLE BALFOUR (Reporter): Their bags were making it to airport carousels, but valuable possessions inside were not.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: A suit, the shoes, and everything, even children's clothes.

BALFOUR: In fact, it had been going on for months.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: That?s what concerns me a lot. I mean I travel a lot so it's not something I like to hear.

BALFOUR: Passenger complaints piqued in the summer. After a lengthy investigation, police arrested seven Toronto baggage handlers. Items seized include cameras, cell phones, DVD players and jewellery, valued at over $12,000.

BARBARA MYLES (Air Traveller): Really did believe that unless they lost my whole bag, my baggage would be secure.

BALFOUR: Barb Miles returned to her Nova Scotia home from Toronto earlier this year, minus $600 in camera equipment and memories, photos of her new grandchild.

MYLES: That was the irreplaceable part. That was the emotionally upsetting part.

BALFOUR: It's the third time in as many years police have broken up a theft ring at the Toronto airport. Arrests included workers in cargo and shipping, goods involved worth millions of dollars. And Toronto is not alone. Baggage handlers in Houston, Texas, didn't just rifle through luggage, they stole the whole suitcase, 68 of them. And at New York?s JFK, handlers were caught on tape stealing $30,000 planted in a suitcase they opened. This former airport security worker says though employees are subject to background and random security checks, it's not enough.

WILLIAM BUTLER (Former Airport Screener): When they leave, they're free to go. They're not screened at all. You just up and leave at the end of your shift.

BALFOUR: Others raise a more ominous question. If it's so easy to remove items unnoticed, how simple is it to put something inside. Denelle Balfour, CTV News, Toronto.

ROBERTSON: And when we return, it fell from the sky and crashed into a house. Why this mysterious chunk of metal is the talk of the town, next on CTV national News.

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