Airport workers accused of mega cell phone theft
03/28/2023
A shipment of Samsung mobile phones arrived in Bogotá, but the packages arrived filled with sand, leading to an investigation into a 37-year-old Cuban worker.
A cargo bay worker at Miami International Airport identified as Eduardo Miguel Rivera Paz, a 37-year-old Cuban, was arrested by police and accused of stealing $1.2 million worth of cellphones bound for Colombia.
Local media reported this Tuesday (03/28/2023) of the arrest of Rivera Paz, who had already testified before a judge about the multi-million dollar theft of phones said to be from the Samsung brand and destined for the South American country They just came packets filled with sand.
The judge ordered bail of $300,000 for the charges against him, broadcaster Telemundo 51 reports.
Rivera Paz was spotted while reviewing videos of DHL Express transportation company’s facilities, located next to Miami International Airport. It is worth mentioning that Rivera Paz is an employee of the cargo handling company Worldwide Flight Services.
The cameras caught irregularities in the employee’s usual work on March 20.
Rivera Paz was charged with grand larceny and theft of more than $50,000 worth of merchandise and was assigned a public defender to defend him. According to media reports, the cargo arrived in Colombia as if they were phones, but there was only sand in the boxes.
Rivera Paz, who appears with another person in the video in which he was spotted, would have used a forklift to place the phones into a trailered vehicle, which was taking them out of the transportation company’s facilities.
Control systems did not detect any irregularities in the cargo in Colombia when some sandbags of the same weight as the stolen phones were placed.
EE (Telemundo, EFE)