| 5 charged in Texas airport luggage thefts |
| Workers at baggage-handling firm accused after bags found in pet store bin |
| HOUSTON - Five employees of a baggage-handling contractor have been charged in the thefts of 158 pieces of luggage from George Bush Intercontinental Airport, police said Tuesday. |
| Sixty-eight pieces of luggage were discovered in a Houston pet store's trash bin on Dec. 26. Police said the luggage appeared to have been picked over, with any valuables stolen. |
| Ninety more pieces of stolen luggage were found at two undisclosed locations over the weekend, Houston Police Capt. Rick Bownds said. |
| Charged with engaging in organized criminal activity were twin brothers Manuel and Ricardo Aguilar, 23; Carlos Osorio, 24; Erick Perez, 29; and Daniel Venegas, who turns 26 this week. The Aguilar brothers, Osorio and Perez were being held at the Harris County Jail on $20,000 bond. Information was not available for Venegas. |
| It was not clear Tuesday whether the five men had hired attorneys. |
| Bownds said the men worked for Menzies Aviation Group, a company that handles baggage for connecting flights across the United States. The company was cooperating with the investigation, police said. |
| A telephone message left with the company's London office was not immediately returned Tuesday night. |
| Investigators and the airlines were trying to determine the owners of the bags and figure out what might have been stolen, Bownds said. |
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