Acting on a tip, police in eastern St. Joseph’s searched the suspect’s car Saturday and found some of the 35 stolen items, including bats, pads, shoes, sunglasses and other personal items.

The Australian Cricket Board had filed a US$10 000 (Trinidadian $63 000) claim with Trinidad-based BWIA airline for items discovered missing after the team flew May 26 to Grenada for their last two internationals against the West Indies, airline spokesman Clint Williams said.

Airport authorities and BWIA both denied the bags could have been tampered with at Trinidad’s international airport. It was unclear what would happen with the claim.

“This confirms what our internal investigations uncovered earlier, that the theft could not have taken place at the airport,” he said.

The suspect, Williams said, was working for a taxi service that transported the players to the airport the morning they left.