One Chinese man has been charged with three counts of theft after Singapore officials uncovered that he stole $23,000 in cash from the luggage of three passengers on their Scoot flight to Singapore, Channel News Asia reports. Hong Kong officials have previously warned of a spike in thefts on flights in the region, and this is yet another example.
On a December 16 flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Changi Airport, 52-year-old Zhang Ziuqiang allegedly stole thousands of dollars from the bags of his fellow travelers. He managed to nab a massive bulk of those funds — $21,000 in cash, or S$50 and 510 million Vietnamese dong, per the charge sheets viewed by CNA.
He then moved on to a gray bag, where he found $1,000 and S$930 (roughly 700 USD) in an envelope. After that, he nabbed an additional $574 — in the form of S$600 and 3 million Vietnamese dong — from another backpack.
Plane-bound thieves have been getting more and more audacious, according to Hong Kong police and reported in the South China Morning Post. In October, police noted that they had logged 13 cases of in-flight theft that either involved stolen cash or credit cards within the first nine months of 2023. In 2022, there were just two reported incidents; in 2021, only one.
Hong Kong police were able to target a syndicate of criminals who were focusing on in-flight thefts. There is no evidence that Zhang Ziuqiang is at all involved in any larger organization. He will return to court on Dec. 22, where he faces three years in jail and a fine.
According to police, these thieves have found success by opening overhead compartments and rummaging through the bags of other passengers. They’ve warned folks not to travel with any significant sums of cash — or, at the very least, to keep those sums on their person at all times.