How to recognize crime in your hotel

At a recent hotel conference, one very informative session dealt with “How to recognize crime on your property.” While the session was given by U.S. law enforcement personnel dealing specifically with the HIDTA (high intensity drug trafficking area) program in large U.S. cities, the advice given applies equally well to Canadian hotels.

In the U.S., HIDTA is seeking the cooperation of hotels.  In recent years, criminals reacted to the seizure and forfeiture legislation in the U.S.  They shifted their criminal activities to hotels and motels because they didn’t want to lose their houses.

The goals of the program are to establish effective communication with hotel/motel personnel.  The program does not ask employees to intervene — just report on things they see.  The police seek to make arrests off-property so that they don’t interfere with the hotel’s business.

The program does keep information confidential, pay rack rates when necessary, ask employees to provide information or contact law enforcement offices, and compensate employees for the time and information.

How hotels can help

Hotel staff can help police by identifying “indicators” of criminal activity; then getting in touch with officers in the area.  It’s just a phone call and officers will protect your business  Here are some of the indicators of criminal activity.

1.    Photo I.D.  Criminals are often cash payers.  If you can get their date of birth, police can track them to their date of birth and run a record check to find out their real name and history.  Get their motor vehicle registration or licence pate.  Note their room number and who is staying in their room.
 
2.    Arrival indicators.  These people often pay the rack rates; they walk in with no reservations and pay cash.  They are often international guests — in some U.S. cities they look for guests from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Mexico.  They also look at domestic arrivals from border states such as Texas, Florida, California and Arizona.

3.    I.D. indicators.  They may have an incorrect licence, a false or suspicious company name, or refuse to provide information or be evasive.

4.    Payment indicators. They may pay rack rates on display, or pay with large amounts of cash.

5.    Stay and departure indicators.  They may take a room for one night but have three bags — look for baggage inconsistencies.  They may leave with less or more baggage than they had on arrival.  They may check out prematurely or be evasive regarding the length of their stay, or they may extend their stay from day to day.  Make note of suspicious conversations—in one case in California, the criminals talked about the whole deal over the phone in Spanish and were overheard by Spanish-speaking staff. Look at a truck that stays in your lot for a long time — time is money for truckers and they don’t usually hang out unless the truck is broken down.

6.    Room usage indicators.  Sometimes the guest does not leave the room for two or three days, may order room service frequently, or refuse maid service.  They may use ‘do not disturb’ signs excessively, request a room far away from the front desk or near an external exit, or a room with a view of the parking lot.  They may have extremely early or odd wake-up call requests.  They may have unusual, frequent or suspicious visitors. There may be unusual items in the room such as drug paraphernalia, saran wrap, duct tape, rubber bands, needles or a money counter (which may be overheard by staff).  The trash may contain airline tickets, written tally sheets and phone numbers.

7.    Telephone usage.  There may be a number of inbound or outgoing calls shortly after their arrival.  They may toss out multiple cell or SIM cards.  There may be frequent calls asking for a guest by room number.

8.    Housekeeping indicators. Housekeepers may find unusual substances including green leafy material, white powder or residue or drug vials.  Any type of white powder could be suspicious—it could simply be baking powder used to transfer cocaine to crack.  In one extended stay unit, criminals were cooking meth.  Other suspicious items include sandwich baggies, straws, large amounts of cash, packages wrapped like bricks in plastic or with duct tape.  The guests may refuse housekeeping.  They may have storage containers or chemicals in the room, unusual books or recipes.  For example, on Feb. 14, 2008 in Las Vegas, Roger Von Bergendorff was found making Ricin from castor beans in his Extended Stay America hotel. The Ricin was so powerful that an amount the size of a pin head could kill 500 people.  Von Bergendorff was arrested and indicted. Look for any substances or equipment that appear to be used to cook, transform or make powders and liquids.  Sometimes towels and sheets are taken from the room so they can’t be analyzed for evidence.

Here’s what your help can do

Case Study #1.  A guest from Puerto Rico paid with cash, had no reservation, refused housekeeping, stayed in the room for a week and didn’t leave.  A local guy with a big, heavy duffle bag visited him.  HIDTA agents tailed him to the airport, searched his bags and found $95,000 in drug money hidden in jeans.  The car licence plate helped identify a local individual.

Case Study #2.  The customer’s money had a funny scent, and the front desk person thought they might be a bank robber.  They were carrying a Tide detergent box.  When this customer was followed to the airport, they had $140,000 in the Tide box — the ultimate money laundering case!

Case Study #3. A customer parked their truck, which was not broken, in the parking lot for days.  When police pulled over the truck on the way to the airport, they found a false wall in the trailer with $1 million in shrink-wrapped money. The trail led to warehouses where 1,600 pounds of marijuana were seized.

The police admit there are horror stories where people are arrested in public areas of the hotel, or the hotel room door is destroyed.  To avoid this, the HIDTA people always work with general managers, owners and security managers. Once they paid an employee $2,000 for a tip.

In conclusion, the U.S. HIDTA program is voluntary.  It’s information-based only.  Hotel employees are not asked to take action, but rather to contact law enforcement officials.