Short thieves

A gang of thieves is employing Trojan Horse tactics by smuggling a 'short person' -- a dwarf or child -- on Swedish buses inside a large bag in order to ransack other bags in the luggage compartment.

Thieves are believed to have been robbing Swedish coaches by smuggling a "short person" into luggage compartments inside a large bag, the coach operator said on Tuesday.

Swebus, which operates coach services across Sweden, said cash and a number of items went missing from bags on two separate occasions this month.

"We think it is a short, young person," Ingvar Ryggasjo, sales manager for Swebus, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "We are taking extra security measures and are thinking of installing video surveillance cameras."

He said the person is believed to have been smuggled onto the coach in a hockey equipment bag.

One woman travelling from the town of Vasteras to Stockholm reported seeing two men squeezing a large, heavy bag into the luggage space under the bus. After arriving she found a camera, purse and other items missing.

"We have got reports about several thefts on the stretch between Vasteras and Stockholm," Swebus customer services manager Pia Kravall said in a police statement. "It is very possible that a very small adult or a child is being placed in a bag in order to search through the other bags."