Danny Ocean would be proud of the crafty French thieves who’ve been stealing from the luggage compartment of an airport-bound bus by stowing away as luggage—aside from the fact they got caught. The two-man operation was deviously simple: One man would curl up inside a large suitcase, while the other would load said suitcase onto “the luggage compartment of the bus that links Porte Maillot to Paris Beauvais airport, a hub for low-cost airlines to the north of Paris,” The Local reports. Once inside, all the stowaway had to do was unzip—the suitcase zipper had been retrofitted to opened from the inside—and he could easily search others’ luggage for valuables. He’d then hide back inside the suitcase, and at the end of the journey, his comrade would simply unload him from the bus, and the two made off like, well, like suitcase robbers.
The duo was finally caught on October 13 when a bus driver noticed that the huge brown suitcase being loaded onto the bus appeared to have something moving inside. The bus driver alerted Beauvais airport security, who called the police. Police followed the “passenger” in question at the airport and found that his rucksack was full of “laptops, tablets, telephones, money, and other valuables.” And yes, there happened to also be an adult male in his suitcase.
The thief and his accomplice, both of whom are in their 40s and have a history of theft, have been given eight- and 12-month sentences, respectively. No word yet on when Steven Soderbergh will have the movie rights to the story.