Three Transportation Security Administration agents were arrested after being accused of stealing from passengers as they were going through security at Miami International Airport.
CBS News reports that 22-year-old Elizabeth Fuster, 33-year-old Labarrius Williams, and 20-year-old Josue Gonzalez were apprehended and booked on charges of organized schemes to defraud.
The airport’s federal security director for law enforcement got in touch with a Miami-Dade Police detective after several thefts took place at a security checkpoint with TSA officers. The detective soon discovered security footage that showed three agents working together to divert the attention of passengers during their screenings and steal money from them. The detective also came upon a recent investigation made by police about a theft.
In the surveillance video, Fuster, Williams, and Gonzalez can allegedly be seen taking $600 from a passenger’s wallet while they waited in the security line. The detective saw additional footage of the trio scheming together on other thefts.
After a formal interview at the TSA Command Center, Gonzalez and Fuster waived their rights and confessed to their arrangement in written statements, while Williams did not.
“The Transportation Security Administration holds its Transportation Security Officers to the highest professional and ethical standards and has no tolerance for misconduct in the workplace," a TSA spokesperson said in a statement, per NBC Miami. "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.”
All three individuals were taken to a local jail.
