New criminal activity among baggage handlers

I am sure my reply will raise the hackles of some, but I now use the secure wrap services at the airport for my luggage. Environmentally unfriendly, yes - but having had a broken suitcase (on the previous trip), I knew my bag was tamper proof, waterproof and less likely to break.

I always photographour luggage before we check it, but now will photograph the Tag too. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for the heads up! We’re flying to PDX in a week and checking one bag. I’ll use the advice to photo the tag.
My husband, how never travels, is actually going on the trip with me. Seeing friends, maybe for the last time (some are in their 80s), was the incentive.

Here's the problem though. You can wrap your luggage with whatever you want. And you can photo your luggage. But these drug smugglers aren't interested in your suitcase. They only care about the tag. They remove the tag, once it enters the baggage handling back stage areas, and put a different one on your bag. Then they take the original tag; the one that is linked to your ticket, that matches the stub you were given, and the one you may have photographed, and attach it to a suitcase full of drugs. Guess what happens at Customs if you are asked to open your bags. Surprise! It's full of drugs, and the tag matches the number associated with your ticket. Note that this has been a problem on international flights. Nothing like spending days or weeks in a foreign jail while you try to prove that the drug suitcase isn't yours.

According to the news program I saw, police are recommending that the only way to prove that you are innocent is to take a time stamped photo of the suitcase, with the tag clearly visible, and showing the weight of the suitcase on the checkin scale.

I always photographour luggage before we check it, but now will photograph the Tag too. Thanks for the heads up.

Same here. I read about this and decided next time I check a bag I will take a picture at the counter.

But anyone can put a tag with someone else name on it. At the end of the day, what matters is what is inside your original bag. Reason I always use a lock on it.

I agree with CJean. I don't think it matters if you wrap your bag up. What matters is where the tag is. Here's a description from the article of what they're doing.

According to W5, corrupt baggage or ramp workers allegedly remove luggage tags from unsuspecting passengers’ checked bags and reattach them to suitcases loaded with drugs. If the bags pass through customs undetected, criminal associates retrieve them at the destination. If authorities intercept the luggage, the traveller whose name appears on the tag may face the consequences.

And here is a list of things that they suggest doing to avoid this, or at least to protect yourself if you're stopped:

Before You Check Your Bag:

• Take photos or videos of your luggage before handing it over
• Photograph your baggage tag clearly, including the barcode and destination
• Record your luggage weight at check-in if possible
• Ensure baggage tags are securely attached before the bag disappears onto the conveyor belt
• Keep baggage receipts and claim tags until your trip is complete
• Use luggage trackers like AirTags to monitor bag movement
• Travellers may also want to avoid checking luggage unnecessarily when possible, especially on complex international itineraries.

Guess what happens at Customs if you are asked to open your bags. Surprise! It's full of drugs, and the tag matches the number associated with your ticket.

Isn't this the opposite of what happens ? O.e. your original bag stays your original bag, with your original stuff in it.

The bag tag with your info on it goes onto a totally different bag, with drugs in it.

Right ?

Isn't this the opposite of what happens ? O.e. your original bag stays your original bag, with your original stuff in it.

The bag tag with your info on it goes onto a totally different bag, with drugs in it.

Yes, your bag is still your bag, with your stuff in it. With a different tag that is not linked to your ticket. The tag that is linked to your ticket is now on a bag full of drugs. If that bag is intercepted by Customs or Police, it is your name linked to the bag. Innocent travelleres have had this happen at several foreign airports over the last few months. They have been jailed. And they've had to spend thousands on lawyers to prove their innocence.

PS - the previous recommendation to put an Air tag in the bag is a good one. It helped one woman get out of jail.

The other big problem in all this is: how are these suitcases full of drugs getting into the secure areas of airports.
There appear to be many layers of this, beginning with the baddies turning a deliberate blind eye, who are letting the bags into airports, then the ones switching the tags and bags, then the ones receiving the drugs in another part of the world.
Definitely organised crime in a very big way.

And I’m connecting in Pearson on my next trip….have to check a bag as I’m going overseas to a wedding and need more clothes than I usually bring. 🤨

I will photograph the contents before leaving home..
Then photograph the tag on the bag with me in the photo next to it.
Sorry if you’re behind me in the line and I’m holding you up!
Also a pic of the weight on the checkin scale.
Don’t touch the tag if possible so my fingerprints are not on it.
AirTag inside.
Keep all receipts.

Wrapping is a good idea…better a bit more plastic out there than time in jail.
Anything else you can think of?

But, as CJean said……your own bag doesn’t matter a jot….the tag is the important part in all this.😢

With the secure wrap services, you are given a tracking code. Baggage handlers indulging in criminal behaviour will target suit cases which are less obvious - well that is what I have read on travel blogs. Also, wouldn’t the suitcases have to be identical, I.e. your bag and the drug filled bag looking the same, otherwise, why would you collect it off the baggage carousel? Plus, if you have an Apple tracker in your suitcase, linked to your phone, surely you would be able to locate your suitcase if you did pick up the drug bag by mistake, because, presumably your bag is still in the airport somewhere?

I don’t understand the movement of drugs from Canada to these other countries. I would think it’s more likely to be the other way around.
What about the original suitcases? Are they ever found?

Elizabeth. I must be a bit thick as I am curious how the baggage handlers are able to bring in suitcases of drugs in the first place at the Toronto airport in order to change baggage tags before placing the bags on aircraft

Baggage handlers and other airport/airline staff facilitating the smuggling of drugs through an airport is very common and extremely old news. Anywhere there is a border there is going to be crime and corruption despite the best efforts of law enforcement.

When I started my job I was given a behind the scenes tour of Heathrow and that was definitely an eye opener. I’m not going to go into detail here but nothing in that article surprises me other than it’s an interesting range of countries the drugs are being shipped on to.

One issue law enforcement has is how easily staff such as baggage handlers can hold an airport to ‘ransom’. Even a short, unofficial ‘downing of tools’ in response to investigation activity can cause havoc.

Maybe I'm the outlier here, but I am looking at this with a dose of frustration. What jumps out to me is that the article fails to mention a single internal arrest, charge, or prosecution in Canada. It completely left out major context like the fact that the RCMP actually arrested and charged two veteran Swissport baggage handlers (with 21 and 25 years of seniority) for this scheme at YYZ. Or that there have been at least 6 ramp and baggage handlers arrested for this tag scheme over the past year.

By omitting the arrests, the article makes it seem like a spooky, unsolved mystery.

https://www.cp24.com/local/toronto/2025/07/17/two-toronto-baggage-handlers-charged-after-allegedly-trying-to-smuggle-147k-worth-of-cannabis-to-france/

VAP, that's my least concern. My biggest concern is how I can avoid being one of the victims, and I think that's what S J was trying to show when she posted this.

I'm sure they'll make arrests. I'm sure they'll find some offenders, and I'm sure there'll be others that will get away with it. The point here is what travelers can do to keep themselves safe, and I definitely appreciate the information.

We did a group tour of China in 2012 and our tour leader advised us to lock our suitcases when flying into and within China. Apparently, theft was a problem back then. Not sure now?

The locks were small and had small keys, but it seemed to work, since we never lost anything. I guess the thieves go for the suitcases that have no locks.

Thanks, S J, interesting article and something about which I was not aware.

I was surprised at the destinations for the drugs and of course Paris caught my eye. Why would they be shipping drugs from Canada to Paris? That seems odd...NOT that I know anything about drug smuggling routes.

I wonder if you are better off gate-checking a bag if you have to check? In my mind it would seem that that your suitcase would be more in the public eye?

My guess is the drugs being smuggled out of Canada are likely to be ‘synthetics’ such as fentanyl and meth rather more ‘traditional’ drugs like cocaine, heroin or cannabis. Canada is known to have a number of criminal labs producing this stuff. That said, there isn’t a huge market for meth in Europe, when compared to North America. Depending when it was happening it could also be a side effect of the conflict in the Middle East disrupting usual drugs routings?

From a travellers point of view I really wouldn’t worry about it too much. Think how many cases go through an airport everyday! You would be very, very unlucky to fall victim to this. The advice in the article is perfectly valid. No harm in photographing yourcase, keep it locked and use a tracking device if you have one.

Thanks, Emma!

Hello folks, i read this, feeling a bit confused.

If switching the tags to another luggage/baggage, would you realise that your baggage might be different from that baggage in terms of colors or brand? Would you collect that look-different baggage with your switched tag which is not yours off from the baggage carousel?

Maybe it would be better to play safe than sorry.

another question is, how to switch the baggage tag sticker to another baggage since it is easily broken?

https://nationalpost.com/news/canadians-bag-tag-airport-switching-scheme

It says "“If you have an iPhone or Android, it’ll actually tell you that there’s an air tag nearby. So if airport employees are switching tags, it’s not that difficult for them to open up a bag and remove an air tag. But there are other tracking devices that are not detectable that the average person can buy online.”

J@p28al, I have never in my life looked at the number on my bag and compared it to the one on tge receipt sticker.

But if the cops get the drug bag with your sticker on it before you get through passport control, you are going down. Only safe way to avoid this is to stay out of Canada.

Evidently, they look for suitcases that are similar to what the ones they have, which are usually mass-produced bags. Here is a quote from another article that expounded a bit on this:

Mitesh Shah, CEO of Empire Protection, a professional security firm in Mississauga, Ont., says travellers can take practical steps to make themselves harder targets. He also recommends making your luggage visually distinct, whether with a colourful ribbon or an unusual bag design, to make it harder for a bad actor to replicate quickly. He cautions against buying the most common mass-market suitcases. “You go to Walmart or Target or Amazon and you order a bag,” he said. “There’s over 5,000 reviews. What that tells me is over 5,000 people have that same bag. It’s pretty easy to replicate.”

This cracks me up because I doodle on all my bags with colorful paint markers, so they're all covered with my art. I'd like to see them replicate that in the time they have! 😂 😂 😂

VAP, that's my least concern. My biggest concern is how I can avoid being one of the victims, and I think that's what S J was trying to show when she posted this.

Mardee, absolutely, no question. I think that's a given. Like I said, I know I'm the weird outlier here. I process information differently and I was always the one that asked "but why?". Looking closer it is concerning.

Think about the numbers: 17 interceptions, 17 people detained, 17 failed drug shipments. How many shipments actually succeeded? Several detained individuals were seniors, and one was a man traveling with his wife and 11-year-old child. Were they specifically targeted because handlers assumed authorities would overlook them?

This operation has been running for at least 19 months, surging in the last year, with six arrests before the May 2026 interception. This isn't random. It is an entrenched scheme exploiting internal security gaps. If handlers can bring large amounts of drugs in and swap tags it makes you wonder what else is slipping through the security at YYZ.

This cracks me up because I doodle on all my bags with colorful paint markers, so they're all covered with my art

That cracked me up because I did the exact same thing. Only I doodled all over my bag in Latin.

“This cracks me up because I doodle on all my bags with colorful paint markers, so they're all covered with my art. I'd like to see them replicate that in the time they have!”

“That cracked me up because I did the exact same thing. Only I doodled all over my bag in Latin.”

I’m thinking in the interest of forum members’ checked bag security we need to encourage Mardee and VAP to record a YouTube instructional on bag doodling! We need design ideas and materials that will hold up under the rigors of baggage handling.

VAP, please tell me you haven’t channeled your Inner Caesar and doodled Veni, vedi, vici!

Mardee: A different direction for your well-known bag enabling! 🤣
I love the idea of bag-doodling!
After the doodle, they will be doodle-bags.
I’m sure I have some fabric paint somewhere…..

VAP, now I'm trying to think of how I can incorporate Latin into my swirls and designs. I do love the language, and I used it enough when I was working. Habeas bonum iter!. And I do get what you're saying. That makes sense.

Pam, that made me laugh so hard! But seriously, you can. You can just put anything you want in there as long as it's hard to replicate, and I doubt very much if thieves carry around fabric markers with them, lol!

S J, haha, doodle bags! I love it!

It seems to me that if you are nervous about such a thing happening to you, then when you claim your luggage at baggage claim, compare the tag on the luggage to the one you retained, and if it does not match, immediately go to the police or other authorities and tell them someone switched your luggage tag.

S J....I love "doodlebags"!

@Mardee - I had to look that up. And also with you, hahaha! I was thinking Tempus fugit and so do I, hahaha.

I need to think about this. I am not very creative but I think I could at least come up with a design of leaf and flower doodles to go around the perimeter of my Osprey Ozone. I know the fabric is not waterproof but it is slick.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I don't see how this works as an effective smuggling strategy. A checked bag is security screened at outgoing airport, then it arrives at destination airport, where normal procedure is that it's sent to baggage claim while passenger goes through immigration; it may be screened (such as with a dog) before it gets to baggage claim. Passenger recognizes own bag when they get to the carousel, picks it up, and proceeds through customs, where again it may be searched. The criminals ideally would want to make the switch AFTER outgoing screening, but is that possible (they'd need to get their drug suitcase further into the secure area)? If it's intercepted before departure, the cops might yank the registered owner (innocent passenger) from the departure lounge or plane for questioning, which is a problem for them, but also for the smugglers, as their delivery is lost. And if this happens a few times the cops will quickly figure out something's wrong in the baggage area. Good law enforcement wouldn't do that though, they'd flag it for the destination police and let it travel (assuming it doesn't endanger the plane); then the destination police would surveille both the identified passenger and the bag until it's picked up. Then you have either caught more actually guilty people, or have stronger evidence (it's in their physical possession after international smuggling) or both. Same if it's caught by destination authorities before pickup; they watch it to see who picks it up. And who is that? Not the passenger, because they don't recognize the bag as theirs despite the fine print on the tag unless it's the identical model, which is unlikely -- and presumably the smugglers don't want the passenger to pick up the drug bag, since they'd need to get the drugs back from them somehow if they get through customs. If they wanted the passenger to pick up that bag, no need to switch tags to another suitcase, just replace some or all of the contents with the drugs and let the original suitcase travel that way. So if the passenger isn't expected to pick up the drugs, they need someone at the other end who either is in baggage claim there to steal it before it reaches the carousel (and if so, why bother with a bag swap?), or someone needs to knowingly pick it up off the carousel who isn't the passenger, and how did that person get into the secure customs area to pose as a passenger, and how does it benefit them to have a bag tag in someone else's name if law enforcement sees them picking up a bag they've previously flagged, or they have to take it through customs and risk being caught there in possession? So passenger either finds their original bag if it got there despite no tag, or they file a lost bag report, and are informed that their bag actually did arrive, but was (presumably) stolen, in which case authorities could investigate further (such as surveillance video of the carousel), but they probably won't or it wouldn't identify what happened, but passenger isn't suspected of drug smuggling.

I have a couple phrases on my hardshell, "igne et malleo" then, "igne et ferri potestas".

Maybe I'll add "Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes" or "tace aut face".

VAP you are giving my googletranslate a workout today! Very appropriate for your blacksmithing! And I love the one about having too much learning, lol!!

Yet another reason not to check luggage 👍🏻