A gambling addict was arrested after stealing thousands of pounds from passengers - as they waited inside an airport.<br /><br />Juan Carlos Yanez Miranda, 64, targeted groups of holidaymakers inside Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. <br /><br />Staff said they had seen a surge in the number of complaints from people whose bags were stolen. <br /><br />They checked CCTV and identified the Chilean national before pouncing on him as arrived to carry out more thefts on August 20.<br /><br />Juan Carlos told police he had stolen more than 100,000 (2,400gbp) baht from groups of tourists to fund his gambling addiction.<br /><br />He said: ''I took bags from Chinese tourists and Thais. I spent a lot of the money on gambling. I needed the money for this. I want to apologise to all of the people I have stolen from.''<br /><br />Officers searched Juan Carlos and found 39,000 baht (927gbp) in cash and stolen credit cards.<br /><br />Police Lieutenant Surachet Kidpalan, Deputy Commander of Samut Prakan police station, said: ''There were many victims from inside the airport. The offender had stolen no less than 100,000 baht.<br /><br />''He will be prosecuted for theft. We will try to return the money to as many people as possible.<br /><br />''We will begin to examine foreigners more carefully, especially Nigerians as this nationality has high crime statistics in Thailand.''
