The authorities in Tenerife have chalked up a major success with the dismantling of a massive pickpocketing organisation on the island.
Operation Danube has led to the arrests of approximately 80 people said to have worked in well-organised teams of thieves in areas with high footfall of tourists and shoppers.
The coordinated teams consisted of members who would distract victims while accomplices relieved them of valuables from their pockets and bags and handed them quickly to others, who took them for safe keeping to designated drop-off points. Other teams monitored tourists as they parked their cars and then broke into them to steal valuables.
According to the Civil Guard, many of those arrested had numerous previous convictions for similar offences but had avoided prison as pickpocketing is considered a relatively minor offence.
Operation Danube was set in motion at the end of last year when police detected a noticeable increase in pickpocketing in Tenerife resorts at the height of the winter tourism season, with a similar trend seen in the island’s capital Sanat Cruz, a popular winter cruise destination.
During the coordinated arrests, officers uncovered a large haul of stolen mobile phones, wallets and valuable watches, together with a sizeable amount and cash and fake identities used by the pickpockets.
