Florida police is searching for a man caught on camera stealing a $6,500 Rolex watch from a fellow passenger at an airport security checkpoint.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) captured the theft at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on January 18.

According to detectives in Broward County, 43-year-old Gloria de Regalado mistakenly left the luxury timepiece behind after recovering her belongings from the conveyor belt.

The incident occurred at the Terminal 3 checkpoint, where Gloria de Regaldo says she removed her jewellery and left it behind.

According to the Huffington Post, the mother-of-three returned 30 minutes after her clearance, after noticing she left her two-toned wristwatch and a sentimental bracelet at security.

But when the woman went back to retrieve it, the jewellery was gone.

Florida police is searching for a man caught on camera stealing a $6,500 Rolex watch from a fellow passenger at an airport security checkpoint

Surveillance footage released by the TSA shows a man behind Gloria de Regaldo putting on his shoes and gathering his things from a plastic bin as the watch catches his eye.

The video shows the man grabbing the Rolex and walking away to reorganize his backpack, when he appears to stuff the jewellery inside.

Gloria de Regalado, who lives in El Salvador and was travelling from her South Florida vacation home to Lexington, Kentucky, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel the jewellery was a treasured gift from her husband to celebrate several milestones: her 40th birthday, the births of their three children, their 10th wedding anniversary, and the bracelet represented her Catholic faith.

She recalled making eye contact with the suspect before realizing the piece were missing on her walk through the concourse.

“He had an opportunity to do right by himself, he knew who I was and he could have redeemed himself, but he didn’t,” Gloria de Regaldo told the Sun-Sentinel.

TSA acted swiftly, reviewing the footage and notifying the Broward County Sheriff, whose officers searched the terminal and an airplane departing for Dallas for the suspect.

There is a $1,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

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