The Guardia Civil officers from the Tax and Border Section at Ibiza Airport, have arrested a man on suspicion of repeated theft after he was caught with 20 high-end mobile phones whose origin he could not account for.
The incident occurred during a routine check at the airport security screening points, when officers detected a total of 20 phones (19 of them iPhones and one Samsung) with a total value of over €20,000.
The suspect intended to fly to Mexico via Madrid, and gave several contradictory accounts of the origin of these devices when questioned by the officers. After carrying out the necessary checks, the officers managed to trace several of the owners, a number of whom confirmed that the phones had recently been stolen from nightlife venues on the island.
Furthermore, the Guardia Civil has returned two of these phones to their owners and is continuing efforts to trace the rest of the owners. After carrying out the necessary technical checks and extracting the IMEI codes, the officers managed to contact several of the owners.
So far, it has been confirmed that at least six of the phones had been stolen recently from various nightlife venues on the island. The Guardia Civil has already returned two of the handsets to their rightful owners and is continuing efforts to locate the remaining owners. Both the detainee and the case file have been placed at the disposal of the duty Investigating Magistrate’s Court in Ibiza.