70,000 medicines seized from 20 checked suitcases at Tenerife Airport
Authorities have seized around 70,000 pharmaceutical products found inside 20 checked suitcases at Tenerife North Airport, leading to an investigation into five passengers for alleged offences against public health and the Social Security system.
Customs officials and officers from the Tax Agency’s Customs Surveillance Unit, working alongside the Guardia Civil’s Fiscal Section, detected the suspicious luggage during routine checks of hold baggage. Security staff alerted officers after X-ray scans showed irregularities in several suitcases.
Inside, investigators discovered tens of thousands of medicines lacking the documentation required for commercial transport or approval from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products.
Those under investigation include three men aged 83, 21 and 27, and two women aged 85 and 55. All five were travelling independently on different flights, but each had checked luggage containing large quantities of pharmaceuticals.
The Guardia Civil has confirmed that the substances were confiscated and that the case is being pursued as a suspected medicines-trafficking operation, with potential implications for public health and the national healthcare system.
Further inquiries remain ongoing.
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