Another theft from luggage

At risk of being accused of jumping on the airport luggage theft bandwagon and having read Tonio Bugeja's letter (April 28) I would like to point out that it is not only valuable items that have been stolen from passengers' luggage at Luqa.

Having made my first visit to Malta in September 2003, the fantastic experience of having spent two weeks on your island was soured when I retrieved my luggage at Nottingham East Midlands airport.

I found that someone had stolen a leather belt, a toffee bar - yes, toffee bar - and one of two ancient fishing rods. Granted none of these items were in secure baggage and were not of any great value, hence a claim was never made. The fact remains that someone had tampered with my luggage and misappropriated items belonging to me.

I have made two further trips to Malta since then and have taken precautions so that history did not repeat itself and so far it hasn't.

Reading through the letters to The Times, I see that the problem is not being resolved, to the detriment of the island. In a place where the crime rate is reasonably low it appears that a laid-back attitude has been taken with regard to the thefts.

Obviously the opportunist thief is not easy to catch but, as has been suggested, how do these people know what is in which suitcase? Is this organised crime?

Perhaps now is the time to plant a few undercover police within the baggage handling area to find out how deep the problem is.