Dubai Two aviation porters claimed in court Monday that their hardship forced them to steal tens of electronics from the airport’s Dnata warehouses, to sell for cash.
Prosecutors accused the Filipino suspects, 33-year-old A.S. and 28-year-old M.D., of abusing their jobs as porters at Dubai International Airport and stealing electronic items that from Dnata’s warehouses.
When the suspects appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance, they pleaded guilty.
When Presiding Judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi asked the defendants on what they did with the stolen electronics, A.S. replied: “We are dearly sorry sir and we resent what we did… we were in a very needy situation. We needed money to support our families.”
A Syrian safety officer at the airport said Dnata received tens of complaints from clients who could not collect their electronic items from the warehouses.
“The clients mainly complained that electronics were emptied from the parcels and taken away from the warehouses. I checked the surveillance cameras and spotted A.S. using a forklift to move the cargo boxes [that contained the electronics] from one spot to another that is out of the range of surveillance cameras. Then he would hide behind the boxes so that he could not be seen.
“I noticed him looking over the boxes several times to ensure that no body watched before opening the boxes and stealing the electronics. I summoned him for questioning. He admitted that over a period of six months he stole tens of electronics and handed them to M.D., who would smuggle them out of the airport,” the officer claimed.
According to prosecution records, M.D. confessed that he would smuggle out the stolen electronics under his clothes or in his handbag. Then he would sell the items and split the cash with A.S.
The latter claimed during prosecution questioning that he used to hide behind the boxes and ensure that no body was watching before opening the cargo boxes and stealing the electronics. Then he would give them to M.D. to smuggle them out from the other side of the airport where there are no gates to search the staff while exiting.
A verdict will be heard on February 27.
