Gothamist – Today Queens DA Richard Brown announced the arrest of 18 airport workers: fifteen present and former truck drivers employed by Sky Chef, the food and beverage subsidiary for American Airlines, and three security guards. They stand accused of pilfering more than 100,000 of the mini liquor bottles. ” The mini bottle ring was exposed by “Operation Last Call,” during which undercover investigators conducted extensive surveillance of the defendants and made 57 undercover buys of over 57,000 mini-bottles of liquor. According to prosecutors, Sky Chef employees were supposed to bring any unsold merchandise from the aircraft back to a storage facility on the airport grounds. But not all of the booze would make it—investigators allege that drivers repeatedly swiped some of the bottles and stashed them in their own vehicles inside plastic bags. Depending on the type and brand of liquor, investigators say that black market prices ran from fifty-five cents for a bottle of Baileys to a dollar twenty-five for a bottle of Courvoisier. Acting on a search warrant this morning, investigators raided the home of a retired Sky Chef driver and, according to the DA, “seized 500 to 600 garbage bags filled with mini liquor bottles. Each bag contained approximately 100 bottles worth between $385,000 and $420,000, as well as $34,000 in cash.”
A sting operation? “Operation Last Call?” For a handful of airport security guards and Sky Chefs swiping a few nips here and there? Jesus whatever happened to perks of the job. You work in retail you get a discount on clothes. You work in a bar you drink for free. You lug bags all over the tarmac and stockpile planes with food and beverage and keep terrorists from blowing your shit out of the sky you should get free mini liquor bottles. It’s only fair. Sure 100,000 mini bottles of Dewars may be extreme but when you spend your entire life protecting the American people from Al Qaeda shit gets a little stressful. Need 1 or 2 or 100K to take the edge off.
PS- Awesome reference from @BeeBeeFourFour doing my job for me:
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