The thing that makes me a bit skeptical is my not understanding how this woman, Lei, didn't notice the "trunk man" when she put her luggage in.
Lei, a young woman from Shanghai, walked out of the airport and hired a taxi to her downtown residence.
About halfway home, the driver received an "urgent call" and told Lei that he would have to drop her off and turn back. He waived her fee, unloaded her luggage and helped her get another taxi.
When she returned home, Lei discovered that her notebook computer had been removed from her luggage and called police.
After a month-long investigation, police determined that the driver had hid somebody in the trunk specifically to steal luggage. Both the driver and the "trunk man" were arrested.
If I was running that kind
If I was running that kind of scam, I'd put a tiny guy inside a fake back wall in the trunk. It'd have to be a really small guy and a really big trunk, though.
Entirely plausible. How
Entirely plausible. How often have YOU actually placed your luggage in the trunk of a cab. Most times, we hand it over to the cab driver, and only cursorily check to see he is depositing it and locking/shutting the trunk.
That makes sense. The cabs
That makes sense. The cabs in Shanghai are also big enough for a (small) "trunk man" to fit too?
As it turns out, I've actually put the luggage in the trunk myself every time I've used the trunk of a cab. More often, my stuff fits fine on the back seat. I guess the beneficial side-effect is that I haven't been at risk of "trunk men."