A passenger has been arrested at Tenerife North Airport after allegedly attempting to buy products on board a flight from Madrid using counterfeit €20 notes.

The 40-year-old man was intercepted by Guardia Civil officers upon landing after cabin crew became suspicious about money he had allegedly attempted to use during the flight.

Officers were waiting when the aircraft arrived at Tenerife North Airport and approached the passenger after those on board had disembarked.

During subsequent checks, Guardia Civil officers found several €20 notes among the man's belongings which they suspected were counterfeit.

According to investigators, the notes lacked the identification and security features found on genuine euro banknotes. Officers also discovered that some of them carried identical serial numbers, adding to suspicions that the money was fake.

Further enquiries by the Guardia Civil subsequently established that the notes were counterfeit and the passenger was arrested on suspicion of a currency-counterfeiting offence.

Questions raised over passenger's identification

The investigation then took another turn when officers examined the man's personal identification documents.

Guardia Civil investigators also had doubts about the authenticity of documentation from the passenger's country of origin.

Those documents have now been sent to specialist criminalistics teams for examination.

If they are confirmed as counterfeit, the man could face an additional allegation relating to the falsification of a public document.

Authorities have not publicly confirmed the man's nationality.

The arrested passenger and the police report have been placed at the disposal of the appropriate judicial authority.