14 Tenerife South Airport workers arrested for stealing from passengers' suitcases

The Guardia Civil in Tenerife has arrested 14 people and is investigating another 20, all of them workers at Tenerife South airport, as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of participating in a criminal group, robbery with force, damage and money laundering

The operation began after detecting an increase in the number of reports and complaints filed by travelers due to robberies and thefts inside their checked suitcases, with those directly affected being passengers of different nationalities.

The detainees took advantage of their status as airport workers. When the suitcases were transferred to the plane's holds, they were loaded and unloaded at a slower pace and with greater distance between them. They also opened the luggage inside the hold, out of sight of the rest of the personnel, and punctured the zipper of the suitcases to open them completely.

To hide the objects stolen from the airport, they used clothing with interior seams made manually or they hid the objects in their lockers at the airport.

Guardia Civil carried out several searches, both in the lockers of these airport workers, as well as in their private vehicles and homes. In total, 29 high-end watches, 120 pieces of jewelry (gold and precious stones), 22 high-end mobile phones, electronic devices, 13,000 euros in cash and a high-end vehicle were seized.

The value of all the stolen objects recovered amounts to 1,953,571 Euros. The detainees also managed to sell many objects in physical and virtual second-hand stores, which is why 27 jewelry stores in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife are also being investigated.