British victims of a £1.6 million suitcase scam at a Spanish airport
A criminal group was operating in one of the most popular airports in sunny Spain, stealing items from vacationers' suitcases. Employees of Tenerife South were detained when they had already caused 1.67 million pounds of damage to passengers.
The victims were tourists from the UK and other countries. The cases of 20 other airport employees also remain unresolved. They are under investigation, the Mirror reports.
Law enforcement officials sounded the alarm when tourists began to complain about missing valuables in their suitcases after the flight.
As the Spanish Civil Guard managed to find out, some thefts occurred when suitcases were being loaded into the luggage compartments. The thieves tried to slow down this process by sneaking into the luggage and stealing suitcases unnoticed.
They opened other people's bags and took out everything they could sell later: jewelry, cell phones, watches and electronic devices.
Each member of the group had a different role in the scheme. Some of them looked for suitable flights with wealthy passengers, while others hid the stolen items, took them out of the airport, and sold them.
During searches of the employees' apartments, lockers, and cars, investigators found 29 luxury watches, 120 pieces of jewelry, 22 mobile phones, various electronic devices, clothes, EUR 13,000 in cash, and a car.
In an operation codenamed "Oretel," the Civil Guard detained 14 members of the gang. The investigation was carried out by the Fiscal Investigation and Border Analysis Unit of Tenerife South Airport, with the support of the Citizen Security Unit.
