A German tourist was mistakenly accused of having stolen about US$6,500 from a Dominican woman who sat next to him on a Condor flight from Germany to the DR. Irma Holguin, who investigators later ascertained had been drinking on the flight, mistakenly accused the German tourist who sat next to her on the flight. When the flight arrived, the lady got the chief of security of the airport to detain four buses of tourists to search for the German who sat next to her, whom she suspected of having stolen the money. Subsequent investigations by Colonel Miguel de los Santos Figueroa, chief of security at the Las Americas International, ascertained that a fellow Dominican traveler had stolen the money. The real thief was detained in La Vega, where he admitted to the theft. The Condor Airline agent in the DR, Udo Meyer lamented the mistake that he said could affect German travel to the DR. He criticized that local daily newspapers had sensationalized the story, prior to the completion of investigations. (6 February 2001)
