British Airways crew invented an armed robbery to cover up a wild night of drugs, Brazilian police say

• Police in Brazil are accusing BA cabin crew members of fabricating an armed robbery.
• Police say the flight attendants actually went on a wild night out, according to reports.

Brazilian police are accusing British Airways crew members of fabricating an armed robbery in Rio de Janeiro to cover up a wild night of drugs and alcohol, according to The Independent.

The Civil Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro told the Independent that their investigations found that three cabin crew members lied in their police testimonies about being the victims of multiple crimes.

The cabin crew said a series of traumatic incidents on September 5 left them too traumatized to work the next day, postponing a scheduled flight to London and leaving passengers stranded in Rio, according to the Independent.

But the investigations found that they "did not tell the truth" about what actually happened on their night off, assistant police chief Danielle Bullus said, according to the Brazillian news outlet G1.

Bullus told the outlet: "They didn't say what actually happened that morning. They created these stories to try to justify probably inappropriate behavior outside of company rules."

According to the Independent, police said that "only one" of the three crimes reported by the trio of cabin crew members actually occurred — a stolen cellphone.

Police doubt their claims that they were confronted by robbers on two separate occasions, per The Evening Standard.

CCTV footage released by police suggested that the cabin crew were still on a night out in Rio at about 4.50 a.m., according to The Sun.

Later, the crew members "consumed drugs and alcohol and went to an abandoned gas station, close to a community in Rio, where they continued their drug use," police told the Independent.

One of the cabin crew claimed to have blacked out after drinking and had no recollection of the night, except for waking up on the street, according to G1.

Upon being treated by medics, he reportedly disclosed that he spent the night drinking and consuming drugs with two women, G1 reported.

The three cabin crew members are now under investigation for falsely reporting a crime.

The Civil Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

British Airways told Insider by email: "This is a matter for the police."

The airline did not respond to a request asking whether the individuals were still employed by the company.