Theiving baggage handlers exposed at Miami airport
Thieving baggage handlers exposed at Miami airport Reuters

Baggage handlers at a major airport were filmed rifling through personal luggage for items to steal in shocking scenes captured on camera.

Staff at Miami International Airport, in Florida, were caught red handed in the act of going through bags and cases belonging to passengers in the luggage hold of a plane.

Footage show one handler rooting through bags while a security guard looked the other way, inside a supposedly secure room at Miami Airport.

Police called the incidences "insider crime" and described them as "very scary".

Oblivious victims of the crime would have no idea their bags had been tampered with by employees entrusted with loading and unloading personal items.

Hidden cameras were installed by Miami-Dade police department during an investigation into hundreds of complaints about missing articles.

Six baggage handlers at Miami Airport have been arrested on suspicion of stealing from luggage.

"It's a problem we all face. We will continue to be proactive until we can see that the claims of pilfering through luggage will actually decrease," said police Lt. Pete Estis.

CNN reported that the total value of airline passenger property reported missing in the United States between 2010 and 2014 hit $2.5m (£1.7m).