Thefts at N.C. airport prompt security

MORRISVILLE, N.C., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Surveillance efforts are being increased at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina following several baggage thefts, authorities say.

Complaints of stolen luggage by six arriving passengers at the North Carolina airport have led authorities to vow that the airport's baggage claim rooms will be equipped with security cameras, The Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer said Friday.

The six thefts all have been reported since Aug. 12, with airlines receiving claims from passengers for personal property losses of as much as $7,400.

Michael Rowan of High Point, N.C., said his wife, Jaime, had her luggage stolen at Raleigh-Durham after the goods arrived a day before her flight.

"People take advantage of the fact that bags come off the conveyor belt -- and there may not be anybody paying attention," Rowan told the News & Observer. "And they can grab them and walk away."

"We are taking it very seriously," Raleigh-Durham police chief Donna Waters said of such passenger complaints. "I don't think we have any sort of gangs out here trying to steal bags."