The Civil Guard arrests in southern Gran Canaria a member of a ring that defrauded insurance companies from Lanzarote
Nine arrests in Operation JIPIJAPA for international scams originating from a clinic in Costa Teguise: eight in Lanzarote and one in Gran Canaria
The Civil Guard has arrested one of the nine members of a criminal organization dedicated to defrauding international insurance companies from a private clinic in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote, in southern Gran Canaria. Operation JIPIJAPA, which concluded on December 17, dismantled a complex network that operated with a hierarchical structure and a modus operandi that was difficult to detect.
The arrests resulted in eight detentions in Lanzarote and one in the south of Gran Canaria, all of them accused of crimes of continuous fraud, money laundering and belonging to a criminal organization related to the activity of the medical center.
The investigation began following a complaint filed on February 19, 2024, at the Costa Teguise Main Station, alerting authorities to alleged health irregularities at the center. From that moment, officers initiated proceedings to clarify the facts and verify the authenticity of the complaint.
The evidence gathered led the Arrecife Court of Instruction Number 1 to authorize a search warrant for both the clinic and another related company located in Madrid. During these searches, carried out with the collaboration of EDITE specialists from the UOTPJ unit of the Civil Guard in Las Palmas, a large quantity of documents and electronic devices were seized.
Analysis of the seized materials—several mobile devices and tens of terabytes of digital data—revealed new crimes related to fraud against travel insurance companies, both domestic and international. Investigators discovered that the organization operated through a structure in which each member played a specific role, making detection difficult due to the group's closed nature.
In addition, some of the nine health center workers arrested are being investigated for possible manslaughter in connection with the death of a foreign tourist.
Since September 2024, the proceedings have been formally framed within Operation JIPIJAPA, led by the Civil Guard in Costa Teguise with the support of the Judicial Police Unit (UOPJ) in Las Palmas. The investigation required the collaboration of various national and international police units, as well as contact with numerous foreign insurance companies located throughout Europe, North America, and South America. Several of these companies joined the case as injured parties upon learning of the operation's progress.
The proceedings have been sent to the Arrecife Duty Court for the continuation of the judicial procedure.
