The Civil Guard of Spain detained 14 workers at the airport on the island of Tenerife, upon determining that they were part of an organization dedicated to stealing valuable items from passengers' suitcases.
(Don't stop reading: A large shipment of cocaine that left Colombia for Spain fell hidden in tuna).
Now, The Spanish authorities are also investigating another 20 people who would also be involved.as reported this Friday in a statement by the Spanish armed institute, which accuses the detainees of belonging to a criminal group, robbery with force, damage and money laundering.
The value of the stolen objects reaches almost 2,000 million euros (a little more than eight billion Colombian pesos); A sum that includes jewelry, cell phones, watches and electronic devices.
(Also: The story of Alex Batty, the British boy who appeared after being kidnapped for six years).
According to the authorities' statement, in the operation 29 high-end watches, 120 pieces of jewelry (including gold and precious stones), 22 mobile phones, electronic devices, 13,000 euros were seized. (about 56 million pesos) in cash and a luxury vehicle.
Taking into account that the criminals sold many of these objects in physical and virtual second-hand stores, They are also investigating 27 jewelry stores in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The authorities began investigation work and other operations when they realized that the number of complaints and complaints from passengers at this airport were increasing, regardless of nationality, indicating that belongings in their luggage were disappearing.
(In other topics: Queen Letizia, involved in rumors of alleged infidelity with a former brother-in-law).
How did they operate?
The Civil Guard indicated that the thefts occurred after the suitcases were transferred to the plane's holds. There, workers loaded and unloaded at a slower pace and with greater distance between them.
Already inside the hold of the plane, The criminals opened the luggage, punching the zipper of the suitcases to open them completely, stole the valuables and closed the zipper again, andavoiding leaving signs of manipulation.
(Also: Colombia's Trinity Group buys its Clarel perfumery chain from Spain).
They point out that the criminal group was perfectly structured, with defined functions and in a hierarchical manner. Thus, there were those in charge of choosing the flight, others hid the stolen objects, there were members in charge of removing them from the airport facilities, others sold them in jewelry stores and on the Internet, and others distributed the money resulting from the theft.
To hide the stolen objects, they wore clothing with manually sewn interior seams or used their personal lockers, authorities indicated.
LATEST NEWS EDITORIAL
With information from EFE
More news in EL TIEMPO
#Spanish #airport #employees #arrested #stole #sold #travelers39 #objects