American busted for luggage theft at Clark

CLARK AIRPORT - An American citizen was arrested on Thursday for taking the luggages of two Koreans at the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) the other day.

Julio Cesar Sanchez, 35, who said he dislikes Koreans, was arrested by security personnel of the CIAC, Aviation Security Unit of the Philippine National Police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group after being positively identified from the airport’s CCTV footage as the suspect who took off with the two luggages of the two Korean nationals.

Jaime Alberto Melo, CIAC president, said Sanchez's arrest came after two Korean nationals, identified as Jo Seungcheol, 28 and Cha Gunmin, 14, reported the loss of their luggages to airport and airline authorities.

"Security and safety are our utmost consideration here at Clark airport,” Melo said, adding that the state-ofthe-art CCTV equipment at the airport were crucial in immediately solving the case.

The Koreans are students at the SMEAG Global School, Inc. and arrived at Clark aboard a JinAir flight from Incheon on December 24.

Sanchez arrived aboard an Asiana Airlines flight from Incheon, South Korea on December 24.

“Our CCTV footages determined the suspect as a male and bearded Caucasian with a black cap who picked up two black-colored luggage at the conveyor area. Another CCTV angle was also able to capture the plate number of the suspect’s vehicle upon leaving the airport premises,” Melo said.