Dubai: Two airport porters have been jailed for six months and fined Dh3 and Dh5 respectively for abusing their jobs and stealing chewing gum worth Dh3 and a chocolate bar worth Dh5 from planes.
The Kenyan porters, 24-year-old A.M. and 37-year-old J.K., opened luggage and stole items that belonged to passengers from two separate Emirates flights and attempted to steal from other flights between January and September 2105.
The Dubai Court of First Instance jailed A.M. for six months for stealing chewing gum from a plane bound for Bangkok and trying to steal from another aircraft.
J.K. was also jailed for six months for stealing a chocolate bar from a plane that had just landed from Jeddah at Dubai International Airport.
Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal fined A.M. Dh3 and J.K. Dh5.
The defendants had pleaded guilty and sought clemency.
The two accused abused their jobs as porters, according to records, and the fact that they were present inside the planes when they looked in bags for cash to steal.
An airport policeman said that the duo were spotted on surveillance cameras installed on-board the planes searching passengers’ bags in the aircraft’s cargo section.
“The airlines reported to the police that the defendants had been opening bags in the cargo section and looking for something to steal. They were summoned for questioning, during which they admitted that they had been searching passengers’ luggage for cash to steal or food to eat,” he testified.
The Kenyan accused were both quoted as admitting to prosecutors that they opened luggage on different occasions in search of something to steal. They also admitted that they stole a chocolate bar and chewing gum.
Sunday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
