Officers on duty at the Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria uncovered 280,000 euros in the baggage belonging to a foreign couple.

The couple were going through security before boarding a flight to Madrid when this large quantity of cash was found, which contravenes the Ley 10/2010 Prevention Money Laundering & Terrorism Financing.

The security personnel found the money after seeing something suspicious during the X-ray inspection of luggage, so they alerted the Guardia Civil officers on duty there.

After questioning the couple and having reasonable doubts about the origin of the cash, they turning the couple over to the Destacamento Fiscal, which is a police unit specialised in money-laundering cases.

This police unit questioned them further in order to find out where the money had come from; 280,000 euros in bank notes of five, ten, twenty, fifty and one-hundred euros. A large sum of money in small notes like this is very typical when it’s the proceeds from drug peddling, forced prostitution or people smuggling. The couple were charged under the above-mentioned law.

In short, the couple were unable to explain, convincingly, where the money had come from so it was confiscated and handed over to the Money-Laundering-Prevention Service belonging to the Banco de España.

If you intend to leave the country with 10,000 or more euros in cash you need to produce an S-1 Form from the Agencia Tributaria (Tax Office). The same document is needed for moving 100,000 or more within the country, which was the case of the arrested couple.

(News: Canary Islands)