In an investigation of TSA theft, a Florida TSA agent got caught red handed with a stolen iPad. The iPad was one of 10 that were purposely left in major airports in the U.S. as part of an investigation by ABC. Using an iPad tracking app, investigators found one of the iPads in the home of a TSA agent.
ABC News conducted a little experiment in which they left iPads behind at security checkpoints at various airports around the country. Two weeks later, they used an iPad locator app to find that one of the iPads wound up in the home of a TSA agent, 30 miles from the airport in Orlando.
TSA Officer Andy Ramirez denied having the iPad in his home. However he eventually handed it over, blaming his wife for taking it.
While nine out the 10 iPads were returned to the owner according to TSA guidelines, the other iPad wound up in the home of Ramirez just two hours after it was left at the airport. All of the iPads left behind had names and phone numbers on the case so that they could be returned. ABC waited 15 days to see if Ramirez would return the iPad.
They then went to his home with a camera crew and confronted him as he was leaving for work. He initially denied even knowing about the missing iPad and said that items left at security checkpoints are turned over to the lost and found. While Ramirez seems to know the guidelines, he clearly didn't follow them. The iPad never made it to the lost and found and it was never returned even though a missing item report had been filed.
After ABC told Ramirez that they would activate an audio alarm, he went back into his home, removed his TSA uniform and handed over the iPad, but he denied it was his fault. He tried to blame his wife, saying 'I'm so embarrassed. 'My wife says she got the iPad and brought it home."
ABC explained that it would have been impossible for his wife to take the iPad as surveillance footage showed that he was the last person to handle the device. Ramirex shut the door and wouldn't answer any more questions.
ABC brought the investigation to the TSA. The agency fired Ramirez, saying that they have "'a zero-tolerance policy for theft and terminates any employee who is determined to have stolen from a passenger."
"This is the tip of the iceberg,' said Congressman John Mica of Florida, who is chair of the House Transportation Committee and a TSA critic, according to ABC. "It is an outrage to the public, and actually to our aviation system."
The investigation began when the TSA denied that there was a theft problem in the agency even though they fired 381 officers between 2003 to 2012 for stealing. The TSA says that number only accounted for less than half of one percent of the officers within the agency.
Besides leaving iPads behind, ABC also filled luggage with cash. The cash went untouched.
Ramirez isn't the only person in the travel industry who was caught with an iPad that wasn't theirs. Recently a Nevada man used the "Find my iPad" to track down an iPad that he left on a plane. The app showed him that the iPad was in the home of a flight attendant on the flight.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
