The news came as police on Friday warned airline passengers to look after their belongings after the increase in crime on flights headed for the city in the wake of the lifting of coronavirus travel restrictions about six months ago.
The force handled 13 cases of in-flight theft involving the loss of cash and credit cards in the first nine months of the year, Inspector Ho Hung-sing of the airport’s intelligence and support section said.
“The modus operandi of culprits usually involves opening the overhead compartments and rummaging through the travel bags and luggage of other passengers while they are resting during the flight,” Ho explained.
He appealed to passengers not to place valuables in a plane’s overhead compartments, but to keep them close at all times.
“If you need to leave your seat, remember to carry cash and valuable items with you or entrust them to your family or friends for safekeeping,” Ho said.
Senior Inspector Chan Ho-ting of the Yau Tsim criminal investigation unit said officers had discovered criminal syndicates had arranged for the thieves to make purchases at a Tsim Sha Tsui liquor store.
“Each transaction ranged from HK$12,000 to HK$58,000, and the amount of money involved in these transactions reached HK$620,000,” she said.
Chan said the thieves were paid thousands of dollars in commission.
The force said it had started to make arrests on Wednesday.
Drugs seized at Hong Kong airport surged by 80 per cent in first half of year
Drugs seized at Hong Kong airport surged by 80 per cent in first half of year
During the operation, code-named “Big Thunder”, officers also arrested the operator of the liquor store, his wife and a woman staff member, as well as two suspected triad members.
Officers seized HK$1 million worth of liquor along with cash, receipts, credit cards and bank documents.
Those arrested were detained on suspicion of theft, obtaining property by deception and money laundering.
The source said an investigation also revealed that several personal and business bank accounts linked to the liquor store’s operator were used to launder more than HK$60 million in suspected crime proceeds between January 2022 and September 2023.
Police recorded just two cases of in-flight theft last year, one in 2021 and five in 2020. The force handled 24 theft incidents on planes in 2019.
A police insider said there had been cases this year where thieves had stolen a single credit card from each of their targets during flights to Hong Kong.
Drugs seized at Hong Kong airport surged by 80 per cent in first half of year
Drugs seized at Hong Kong airport surged by 80 per cent in first half of year
The victims were unaware of the thefts until after they had disembarked from the plane.
“The victims realised their credit cards had been stolen when they were notified by banks that their cards had been used for purchases,” the source said.
The source added eight of this year’s 13 victims had credit cards stolen during short-haul flights to the city in August and September. The victims were six Hong Kong residents and two tourists, one from Europe and one from Asia.
One of the Hong Kong residents was a businessman whose credit card was used to buy HK$300,000 (US$38,313) worth of whisky from the Tsim Sha Tsui liquor store and for eight other fraudulent transactions.
The source said a credit card stolen from a European traveller was also used to buy alcohol from the same outlet.
He added credit cards belonging to six of the victims were used for shopping at the liquor store.
The source said police were investigating the origin of the illegal funds, how the cash was generated and its final destination.
Police added the investigation continued and did not rule out further arrests.