Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents from Miami International Airport (MIA) were arrested after footage from surveillance cameras showed them stealing from passenger X-ray trays.
TSA agents Josue Gonzalez and Labarrius Williams are facing charges related to the alleged thefts following their arrests in July 2023.
Charges related to a third agent, Elizabeth Fuster, have since been dropped.
The surveillance video, released by the Florida State Attorney’s Office, appears to show Gonzales, Williams and Fuster unzipping passenger bags and pocketing items before sending them through the CT scanner.
The video has since been reposted a number of times on social media platforms by media companies and private citizens alike.
An investigation revealed that the three agents were caught on video working conspiratorially to distract passengers being screened and steal money from their belongings.
The agents’ arrests were made after airport authorities contacted a police detective to investigate a number of thefts at Checkpoint E at MIA airport.
Various US media reported that based on arrest affidavits Gonzalez and Fuster waived their rights at the time of arrest and provided written confessions. Williams refused to talk.
Hearing charges against Fuster were later dropped, according to NBC Miami.
NBC Miami also reported that Gonzalez was accepted into a state program that, if completed, the charges against him will be dropped.
MIA airport seems to be no stranger to TSA theft incidents, with social media comments pertaining to such cases dating as far back as 2009.
