Several airline employees had their last call for alcohol.
Eighteen employees at JFK Airport in New York were arrested for stealing 100,000 mini-bottles of alcohol, according to CNN.
The workers stole the alcohol from LSG Sky Chefs, which provides food and beverages for American Airlines.
The workers were arrested after the Port Authority's Office of Inspector General led a nine-month investigation called "Operation Last Call,"
A majority of the workers were employed by LSG. Among those arrested were 15 Sky Chef truck drivers and three security guards hired by private contractors to work at JFK Airport for American Airlines. The guards aided the truck drivers in their theft by taking bribes to not say anything. The guards also received stolen goods.
The drivers were in charge of removing the bottles of liquor that weren't sold on a flight and taking them to a storage facility at the airport. Instead, they drove the good to their own cars in the airport parking lot. They then bribed the security guards with the liquor at checkpoints so they would overlook the matter.
The drivers were charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property as they took $750,000 worth of liquor and duty-free products such as cigarettes and perfume. The three security guards received the same charges. Two of them were charged for taking bribes.
"The defendants arrested in Operation Last Call violated and sold out their position of trust and access to the secure areas of the airport, including access to commercial aviation, all for personal greed," said Robert Van Etten, inspector general for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as quoted by CNN.
The drivers would take the bottles of liquor and other goods and sell them.
One of the men involved in the scheme was Domingo Duran, a retired LSG Sky Chefs employee. Undercover investigators purchased the goods one 57 occasions. They then issues a search warrant for Duran's home in Queens. In the raid, they found 50,000 mini-bottles of alcohol and $34,000 in cash.
Duran may face 15 years in prison for grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. The other employees involved may face seven to 15 years.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
