Luggage workers loot suitcases from travelers
A number of airport employees in Tenerife are supplementing their salaries illegally: The gang steals from travellers' suitcases in a professionally organized manner. Now the police are putting an end to the racket.
On the Spanish vacation island of Tenerife, 14 airport employees have been arrested on suspicion of stealing valuables with a total value of almost two million euros from travelers' suitcases. According to police reports on Friday, their haul included 29 luxury watches, 22 smartphones and 120 pieces of jewelry. They were confiscated during searches of the suspected thieves' vehicles, homes and safe deposit boxes.
The gang was "perfectly structured", it was said. Each member had a defined area of responsibility, from selecting the flight to smuggling the goods out of the airport premises to selling them on via the Internet or to local dealers. Another 20 airport employees and 27 jewelry stores on the island are being investigated in this connection.
According to the investigation, the thieves struck after the luggage had already been loaded into the cargo hold of airplanes. In this way, they were out of sight of other airport employees and passengers. The thieves then allegedly hid their loot in pockets sewn into the inside of their work clothes or in their lockers at the airport.
Tenerife Airport handled 10.8 million passengers last year, most of them European tourists. This puts it in seventh place among Spanish airports.
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The international community has expressed concern over the rampant criminality at Tenerife's airport, calling for stricter security measures to protect travelers' belongings. The arrested employees' illegal activities have also raised questions about the internal security systems in Spanish airports.
Source: www.ntv.de
