Since June a band of thieves in the Los Angeles area has staged more than 30 violent raids on travel agencies. The gang demands blank tickets and the validation plates that print airline identifications, then sells thousands of hot tickets on the black market at a 50% discount. During heists in recent weeks, two female employees were raped, one agent was knifed and another killed.
Because the plates carry the code of each travel agency, businesses are being billed for a slew of stolen tickets, many of them to expensive locations in Central and South America. One agency was debited $47,000...
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