Cancún Airport Workers Question What Happens to Lost Items

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Lost items left behind at Cancún International Airport are stored by the terminal’s Security Office, but ground workers say nobody knows where many of them — especially high-value goods — ultimately end up.

The airport, operated by Aeropuertos del Sureste (ASUR), does have a Lost Objects Department overseen by the Security Office. But employees with more than 40 years on the job said unclaimed property often ends up in the hands of people at the terminal itself, while some items are donated to civil associations. They complained that the process lacks transparency.

The airport handles roughly 20 million passengers a year, at least two-thirds of them on international flights, employees noted. When travelers leave something behind, returning it is difficult, so the items are held in a space more than 20 meters long and nine meters wide, kept in drawers and on shelves.

“There are shelves with items like suitcases, cell phones, laptops and many others,” workers in Terminal 2 said. Terminal 2 serves as the collection point for forgotten objects from the airport’s two other operating terminals, T3 and T4.

Workers said that at the end of the year some of the objects are assigned or raffled off, while others are sent as donations to civil associations. On Thursday, even an abandoned dog in a cage was sent to the area before the airport’s wildlife department took charge of it, Terminal 2 security personnel said.

The Cancún airport’s website states that objects found on the premises are processed by the Security Office and are often turned in by passengers, airport staff or security agents.

“However, it is important to keep in mind that not all lost objects are handed in; sometimes people may keep the objects they find,” the site says. All airport employees undergo exhaustive searches and checks at the end of their shifts to prevent them from taking found items, according to the airport.

The airport also notes that the Security Office does not handle baggage left inside aircraft, saying those cases are managed exclusively by the airlines. Passengers with lost or damaged baggage should contact their airline directly to file a claim.