Chinese national arrested for thefts in flights on long routes, three others detained

Time of India

17-05-2025

New Delhi: A Chinese national was arrested for organised
and three other Chinese nationals were detained for questioning. Police investigations revealed that the arrested individual was part of a group targeting
in which they stole cash, electronics, credit cards, etc.,
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from the unsupervised luggage of sleeping passengers. Their strategy exploited long-duration, high-traffic international flights, making it harder to notice the thefts.
The accused, Benlai Pan, 30, a resident of Hong Kong, was apprehended after Air India's security and vigilance team alerted Delhi Police on May 14 about suspicious activity on the airline's flight AI-315 from Hong Kong to New Delhi. Passengers had complained about theft during the flight.
Police teams met Air India staff and passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 3 arrival hall. Passenger Prabhat Verma told the cops that the cabin crew warned him of suspicious movements near his overhead baggage. Upon inspection, he discovered his credit card was missing and noticed a suspicious individual, later identified as Benlai, sitting in a seat not assigned to him. The missing card was found nearby.
Another passenger, Prashi, too found her mother's debit card missing. Another vigilant passenger provided video footage showing Benlai opening cabin baggage items and inspecting the contents.
Benlai was accompanied by three other Chinese nationals — Meng Guangyang, 51, Chang Mang, 42, and Liu Jie, 45. The authorities are liaising with the embassies concerned to verify their backgrounds and determine whether they were involved in similar crimes worldwide.
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During interrogation, Benlai confessed to being part of a sophisticated syndicate targeting transit flights. The group's strategy involved booking long transit flights to access unsupervised cabin luggage over extended periods. They sat in different section of the aircraft avoid being identified as a coordinated group, thus minimising the risk of being noticed. Their primary tactic was to target sleeping passengers, carefully opening bags to steal high-value items like cash, electronics and credit cards.
When cards were stolen, the group used them and immediately discarded them to make detection harder.
The syndicate specifically targeted high-traffic international routes, exploiting long-duration flights where passengers were fatigued and less vigilant. This allowed them to carry out thefts with relative ease, moving unnoticed in crowded cabins.
A credit card, several bags, wallets and electronics were recovered from the men and they are under further scrutiny.
Usha Rangnani, additional CP (IGI), said, "Benlai has been arrested, while the involvement of his three associates are being investigated. Travel data over the past 12 months is being analysed to connect the group with similar unsolved in-flight thefts." Alerts have been issued to immigration and airport authorities across the country and global enforcement agencies have been contacted to determine whether this group is a part of a larger
.