VIDEO: 14 workers arrested for robbing passengers' luggage at Tenerife South Airport

The Guardia Civil has arrested 14 employees of Tenerife South Airport and are investigating 20 others, all alleged perpetrators of crimes including belonging to a criminal group, robbery with force, damage to people’s property, and money laundering.

Operation Oretel was initiated after an increase in the number of complaints from travellers of various nationalities, regarding thefts from inside their checked-in hold luggage.

The detainees allegedly took advantage of their positions as airport workers. During the transfer of luggage to the airplane's cargo hold, they loaded and unloaded suitcases at a slower pace and  then opened the luggage within the cargo hold, away from the view of other colleagues, opening the zips to access the contents fully.

After removing the desired items, which included jewellery, mobile phones, watches, and electronic devices, they closed them again to leave the suitcases without any signs of tampering. To further conceal their activities, the suspects positioned the suitcases as a barricade between the cargo hold entrance and its interior. They even closed the rigid curtains, which are used to secure luggage from moving freely inside, to hide what they were doing.

Nearly 2 million euros in stolen goods:
According to the police report, the members of this criminal group operated with a well-defined hierarchy structure, with each person responsible for different roles within the process, such as choosing the flight, concealing the stolen items, transporting them out of the airport premises, selling the items in jewellery stores or online, and sharing the profits.

To hide stolen items from airport security, they used clothing with manually stitched interiors or their personal lockers at the airport. The Guardia Civil conducted several searches, including the lockers, the airport worker's private vehicles, and their homes. The seizure included 29 high-end watches, 120 pieces of jewellery (gold and precious stones), 22 high-end mobile phones, electronic devices, 13,000 euros in cash, and a luxury vehicle.

The value of all the recovered stolen items currently amounts to 1,953,571 euros. The detainees also managed to sell many items in second-hand jewellery shops and online stores, leading to an investigation into 27 stores in Tenerife.

The investigation was carried out by the Fiscal and Border Investigation Analysis Unit (UDAIFF) of Tenerife South Airport with the support of the Citizen Security Unit (USECIC). The Guardia Civil received support from the State Air Safety Agency (AESA), Airports and Air Navigation (AENA), and various airlines operating at Reina Sofía Airport. The operation was directed by the Instruction Court No. 4 of Granadilla de Abona.