Three Transportation Security Administration officers at Miami International Aiport were arrested after authorities said they were caught on camera stealing from passengers during security screenings.
Josue Gonzalez, 20, Elizabeth Fuster, 22, and Labarrius Williams, 33, were arrested Thursday at MIA on charges of organized scheme to defraud, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
According to arrest reports, authorities started investigating thefts that had occurred at the airport's Security Checkpoint E.
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Detectives discovered surveillance video showed the three officers distracting passengers as they were being screened so they could steal money from their belongings, the reports said.
In one case, video provided by TSA showed Williams and Gonzalez removing $600 from a passenger's wallet as the passenger was being screened, the reports said.
The three were observed in several similar incidents stealing from passengers, the reports said.
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Fuster, Williams and Gonzalez were booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available.
“The Transportation Security Administration holds its Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to the highest professional and ethical standards and has no tolerance for misconduct in the workplace," a TSA spokesperson said in a statement Friday. "We actively and aggressively investigated these allegations of misconduct and presented our findings to MDPD, and are working closely with them. Any employee who fails to meet our fundamental ethical standards is held accountable.”
Travelers at MIA Friday said they were shocked to hear of the allegations.
“I’m surprised, yeah, I still tend to trust security people, and law enforcement,” said one passenger.
“How do you bring people through and then you rob them while you were smiling at them, isn’t that a little weird to you?" asked another traveler.
