A contract worker at Miami International Airport is facing charges after investigators say he sold a passenger’s Cartier watch to a local jewelry store, weeks after the traveler left it behind on a flight.
The passenger had flown into Miami from North Carolina on an American Airlines flight on June 8 and accidentally left a black leather crossbody bag behind after deplaning. The bag itself was worth around $260, but it held nearly $12,378 in valuables, including a Cartier Santos watch and a pair of AirPods.
The passenger initially tried tracking down his AirPods using a location app and was able to follow them around MIA for a few days, until the signal went dead. Weeks later, he got a break — on July 1, the victim spotted his watch, which had a distinct gash on the bezel, listed for sale on a website based in New York.
A subpoena traced the sale back through a Miami broker, who had bought it from another jewelry dealer. Records from Vera Jewelry showed the watch had been sold there by 45-year-old Carlos Elky Penton of Hialeah on June 11 — just three days after the passenger’s bag went missing — for only $1,500, a fraction of what investigators say the watch is actually worth.
Investigators identified Penton as an employee of Eulen, a company contracted to service aircraft at MIA once passengers deplane, and confirmed Eulen had serviced the passenger’s flight the day the bag disappeared.
Deputies caught up with Penton on Thursday behind a residence in Hialeah and took him into custody. After waiving his Miranda rights, Penton told investigators he wasn’t working the day the bag went missing, but said a coworker had handed him the watch. He reportedly admitted the watch wasn’t his and that he didn’t know who it belonged to.
“Defendant made a profit for self gain by selling the watch,” the arrest report states.
Penton was booked into jail on a charge of dealing in stolen property. Information on his attorney was not immediately available.
This story may be updated as more details become available.
