Dusseldorf - Once, not paying attention - even the suitcase is gone! At the airport, drifting around in a year pickpocket gangs. Police are trying to tackle it, success is far more likely mau.
So the dream vacation can become a nightmare: If it is stolen at the airport shortly before leaving the baggage - or the purse, including cash and travel documents.
After all, nearly 2,000 times what has happened in 2008. Klau is an absolute record. In comparison to 2007 had doubled the number of thefts smoothly.
Bad: Even in the first four months of this year, the figures remain almost in this appalling level. And place the peak period, in which the thieves most likely still to come.
"We are dealing with international organized gangs," said Norbert Topka, head of the North for the airport police station.
The perpetrators come from Eastern Europe, North Africa, even from Caracas (Venezuela). The gangsters know that the airport is known for its forays the ideal city: "There are many people in a small space, it is very fidgety," says Topka. Many travelers have some enormous amounts of cash there.
A businessman from the Middle East with his suitcase, for example, lost almost $ 100,000. Other travelers have gold bars or expensive jewelry in your suitcase.
It is difficult not to come to the valuables. EXPRESS yesterday tested the attention of travelers. In a few minutes would have even the most clueless in pickpocketing reporters several suitcases and a laptop bag can carry unnoticed.
Some of the passengers slept on the waiting chairs next to their luggage. "One must always be careful, that is actually clear to me," said Henk Oude Luttikhuis, for example, from Holland, who had left his bags at the coffee out of sight.
Since the beginning of the year, the police tried to hunt down the thieves too. One even asked officials to deter Einsatzhundertschaft Terminal. Even civilian investigators were on the road.
"It is very difficult for the perpetrators have not only a good eye for victims, but also for the police," says Topka. The clarification rate is correspondingly low: Only about five percent of cases are caught the thieves.
