The national police force in Spain arrested no less than 14 workers employed by the Tenerife South Airport (TFS) in the country.
The Civil Guard took them in on suspicion of robbing tourists and stealing items from checked-in luggage that has been estimated to be around €2 million.
According to the officers who arrested the workers, 29 luxury wristwatches were among the items stolen from the checked-in luggage.
In addition, 22 high-end smartphones also went missing, while tourists also disclosed that a total of 120 pieces of jewelry, which included gold and some precious stones, somehow disappeared from their baggage.
The police further reported that the cash count of the tourists also did not reconcile with their reported amounts.
It was later revealed that tourists lost a total of €13,000 was missing from their luggage. Meanwhile, the robbery of a high-end vehicle was also reported.
Searches
The Civil Guard further went on to add that it had to carry out a number of searches to find these items.
Consequently, it looked for the stolen merchandise in the lockers of the airport workers, as well as their homes and private vehicles.
Authorities also believe that these thefts would occur during the placement of luggage in the aircraft hold.
In their words, suspects would forcefully open the suitcases and obtain all items of value. This would allow them to rummage through the bags without being seen by travelers or other personnel at the airport.
In addition to the 14 employees that have been taken into custody, a group of 20 other workers at the airport are being investigated for allegedly committing theft.
Investigation
The Spanish Civil Guard took to initiating this investigation soon after it received a significant number of increased complaints from passengers about missing items.
It obtained reports from the Tenerife South Airport after noticing the rising trend and decided to carry out searches.
As per the police, the suspects would go through the luggage and pick out the items that they wanted.
Afterward, they would make sure to carefully close the suitcases once again to ensure that no one could see any signs of tampering.
As of now, the suspects have been charged with committing robbery by force, engaging in money laundering, and being part of a criminal organization.
According to the Spanish Civil Guard, each of the 14 workers was in charge of one of the parts of the commission of the robbery.
The suspects
It is believed that the suspects sold the stolen merchandise to online and local shops. For this reason, the police are investigating 17 jewelry stores located in the Santa Cruz province.
This is not the first case of robbery that Spain has witnessed this year. In the month of August, a traveler reported their Hermes Birkin Bag stolen from the Aeroport de Barcelona-El Prat (BCN) by two thieves.
They reported that the bag itself was valuable and contained $9.3 million. After a thorough investigation, it was revealed that the thieves came prepared and used a rental car to get away.
However, they were tracked down soon enough by Catalan police in Salt.
