What happened at the amusement arcade in Morro Jable?

The arcade manager filed a complaint in September 2026, and that is what set the Guardia Civil on the trail. The suspected fraud is said to have run from June 2025 to September 2026.

The accused allegedly gamed the TITO payout system — short for Ticket-In, Ticket-Out. Players get winnings or leftover credit as a printed ticket with a barcode, which they can feed into other machines or swap for cash.

Normally a computer checks whether a ticket is valid and whether the credit has already been paid out. The suspects are said to have pocketed payouts by forging or duplicating those tickets.

The Guardia Civil did not say how the pair slipped past the security checks. Officers from the main Morro Jable post pored over CCTV footage and spotted suspicious behaviour by certain customers.

How did Operation PIAO unfold?

The arrests came as part of Operation PIAO, run by the Guardia Civil's Comandancia de Las Palmas. As the investigation tightened, police identified and arrested the two suspects.

Investigators seized 2,809 euros in cash from one of them. They also secured a large number of suspected forged prize tickets, Fuerteventura Zeitung reports.

The age and nationality of the two people have not been released. Both were handed over to the courts, Diario de Fuerteventura reports.

What does the case mean for visitors and residents?

No closure of the arcade, no new rule, no price change, no special deadlines — nothing has been announced for residents, expats or tourists. The reports concern an ongoing criminal case against two suspected offenders.

Criminal liability has not yet been legally established. For visitors and residents, the only practical point is the usual advice: do not alter or duplicate prize tickets.

Guests should tell arcade staff or the police if something looks off. No specific official warning or extra security measure appears in the available reports.

How does the TITO system work?

With Ticket-In, Ticket-Out, players get their winnings or remaining credit as a printed ticket with a barcode. They can use it at other slot machines or redeem it for cash.

Canarian gambling law splits slot machines into type A, B and C. Type B pays cash prizes; type C machines are gambling machines whose winnings depend on chance and are generally allowed only in casinos.

The Canary Islands government is responsible for slot machines. It sets the framework and regulates technical approval, maximum prizes, game prices, equipment and networking.

Tickets, cards or chips are not freely usable everywhere. On approved type C machines, they may be used only with permission from the gambling authority and must be redeemable for cash at all times during operation.

What remains open?

The exact technical trick behind the forged tickets, the number of affected tickets and the precise loss are still open. The identity of the accused has also not been released.

No date for a further court decision or a trial has been given. The case files are now with the courts in Puerto del Rosario, Diario de Fuerteventura reports.

The files sit with the relevant investigating section of the Tribunal de Instancia in Puerto del Rosario. That section was on duty at the time of the court appearance.