Beware! Thieves have made NAIA their den

IT is absolutely unbelievable that after weeks of news stories and angry posts on social media detailing incident after incident in which some innocent traveler fell victim to extortion by security or other workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), no one in the airport’s management organization or the government has lifted a finger to stop the epidemic of thievery.

In the latest incidents, a Japanese citizen departing to return home and an OFW leaving for work in Hong Kong both fell victim to what has become known as “laglag bala,” or bullet-planting, a scam in which an unwitting traveler is told that a bullet – which is of course illegal to carry on an airplane or in an airport – has been found in his or her baggage. The victim is then threatened with arrest, and reportedly offered the option of paying a bribe to be released to go on their way.