JAKARTA - INDONESIAN police said on Friday they had arrested 25 baggage handlers working at Jakarta's international airport in connection with thefts from airline passengers' checked luggage.

Local police crime investigation chief Taufik Hidayat said that the alleged syndicate was broken following complaints from passengers.

'It involved some baggage handlers working for state airline Garuda Indonesia, Air Asia, Lion Air and Batavia Air,' he told AFP, adding that international as well as domestic passengers had been victims.

Mr Hidayat said the thieves went through bags while they were inside the plane's hold as they were being loaded on or taken off.

Sukarno-Hatta International Airport police chief was quoted by the English-language Jakarta Post as saying that 160 stolen items had been seized, included mobile phones, cameras, jewellery and video cameras. -- AFP