12/12/2002 - Updated 08:40 AM ET Six Miami airport bag handlers charged with stealing from bags MIAMI (AP) =97 A group of baggage handlers at Miami's airport was arrested= =20 Wednesday on federal charges they broke into the bags of British Airways=20 passengers and stole personal belongings. Valuables stolen included=20 jewelry, personal electronics and other items. U.S. Attorney's Office=20 spokeswoman Jacqueline Becerra said she could not immediately provide an=20 estimate of the total value of the stolen belongings and did not know if=20 any had been retrieved. Jorge A. Benitez, Jose Leon, Onelio Vento, Javier=20 Munoz, Pierre A. Bourdeau, and Maynor Hernandez were charged with a single= =20 felony conspiracy count for baggage thefts from British Airways passengers= =20 from Sept. 20 to Sept. 30, an indictment said. Five of the six had been=20 arrested by late Wednesday, according to Becerra, and the sixth handler was= =20 being sought. The men will have their first court appearance Wednesday. The= =20 six are employees of Aircraft Services International Group (ASIG), a=20 company contracted by British Airways to load and unload baggage for its=20 flights. The handlers are charged with conspiring to steal more than $1,000= =20 worth of baggage contents from an airline, entering British Airways planes'= =20 bonded cargo holds to unlawfully remove baggage, and entering secure=20 handling areas with the intent to commit a felony. If convicted, each=20 defendant could face up to five years in prison. There was no immediate=20 information on the men's lawyers. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TnT News) http://www.tntmirror.com/ (TnT News) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************