Passenger arrested in Hong Kong for alleged theft on flight from Indonesia
Police say man, 35, detained after two passengers report that cash and jewellery went missing from their backpacks
Airport police said on Saturday that two passengers the previous day had reported that cash and jewellery had gone missing from backpacks stored in overhead compartments.
Authorities said a 35-year-old mainland Chinese man was arrested on suspicion of theft following preliminary investigations.
He remained in police custody pending further investigation.
The arrest came amid a growing number of theft cases reported on board flights to Hong Kong over the past two years.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung previously said Hong Kong recorded 169 cases of in-flight thefts involving HK$4.32 million worth of valuables in the first 10 months of 2024. That surpassed the annual numbers reported during the years of peak tourism in 2018 and 2019, in which 103 and 147 cases were reported, respectively.