An organised group of shoplifters behind the theft of hundreds of thousands of euros worth of items from airport stores has been arrested by police in Tenerife.
In all, 66 people have been detained and a further 18 are under investigation for the thefts of high-value perfumes and cosmetics from the duty free shops in Tenerife South airport. The gang is also said to have operated in other airports in the Canaries and mainland Spain, including Bilbao, Madrid, Malaga and Alicante.
Members would buy a cheap air ticket to pass through security and access the duty free area to steal the valuable items, which were sold at discount prices in Spain and even other countries.
According to police, the Tenerife gang, which operated in shifts and particularly at the busiest times in the airport, was run by a local woman and often used vulnerable adults and even children for the shoplifting.
Police began monitoring the activities of the groups in May and followed some of the members as they left the airport, in some cases in hired cars. One shoplifter caught in possession of a large amount of perfume had a flight ticket bought in the name of a different person who is currently serving a jail term.
In a separate interception, a gang member was caught as she was travelling outside Tenerife to sell an estimated 30,000 euros in perfumes and cosmetics, for which she produced an invoice which was found to be fake.
The gang is believed to have stolen 225,000 euros worth of goods from the stores in Tenerife South airport, of which 70,000 have been recovered.
