Passenger arrested after $34,000 allegedly stolen from carry-on luggage on flight

A passenger has been arrested for allegedly stealing $34k from travellers’ carry-on bag.

A passenger on a flight has been accused of stealing more than AU$34,000 ($36,750) in cash from carry-on luggage while on a short flight from Vietnam to Singapore.

Zhang Xiuqiang, a 52-year-old traveller from China, was arrested at Changi Airport on Saturday and charged with three counts of theft on suspicion of ransacking the bags of three passengers, according to the New York Post.

The suspect and victims of the theft were flying from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore aboard a Scoot flight, the low-budget subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.

While travelling on the two-hour flight, Zhang is thought to have swiped roughly $920 ($600 SGD and 3 million VND) from one person’s bag and stole nearly $33,500 ($50 SGD and 510 million VND) that he found inside another flyer’s messenger bag, according to documents attained by Singapore’s Channel News Asia.

Zhang also reportedly looted $2700 ($1000 USD and $930 SGD) from an envelope he found inside a grey bag belonging to a third traveller.

One of the people on the plane ended up alerting a flight attendant about the suspected robbery spree, and the cabin crew informed the police at the airport, a spokesperson for the airline told CNN.

A passenger on a flight has been accused of stealing more than AU$34,000 in cash from carry-on luggage. Photo / 123RF

When the plane landed in Singapore, Zhang and his alleged victims were taken off the plane by airport authorities and escorted into the airport.

On Monday, Zhang was formally charged with theft counts in a Singapore district court.

If found guilty, he could face up to nine years in jail, a fine, or both.