Airport cleaner steals 1,500 mini liquor bottles

A woman stole more than 1,400 miniature bottles of booze worth US$10,000 while working as an airplane cleaner at JFK Airport in New York.

Miniature liquor bottles. Source: Wiki

Juanette Cullum is accused of pocketing 1,429 of the tiny bottles from American Airlines planes over a three year period, with police discovering her stash at her home in Brooklyn following a tip off, as reported by NY Daily News.

The 48-year-old was not selling the bottles, which typically sell for about $7 each on board, but appeared to be hoarding them, a law-enforcement source said.

Cullum is also accused of stealing seven iPads, two laptops, 19 Kindle tablets and miscellaneous toiletries, together worth at least $5,000.

Miniature liquor bottles have become the target of airport workers in the past. In 2012, 18 workers at JFK were found guilty of stealing $750,000 worth of mini bottles from planes. The ring comprised three airport security guards and 15 employees of LSG Sky Chefs, which provides catering services to American Airlines. The thieves sold the spirits to grocers in Queens for $1 and $2 each. Some 60,000 bottles were found at the Queens home of ringleader Domingo Duran, who pleaded guilty to related charges in 2013 and served a six-month prison sentence.

Cullum was arraigned on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property on Friday in Queens Criminal Court and faces up to seven years’ prison if convicted.