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ARCHIVED - Spanish police arrest 19 people for facilitating illegal migration from North Africa
Members of the criminal gang were tracked down in Tarragona and Almeria
The authorities in Spain have arrested 19 individuals accused of promoting and facilitating the illegal movement of migrants from North Africa. In an extensive sting operation, police searched seven homes and several farmhouses in Almeria and Tarragona and recovered a substantial amount of cash, vehicles, drugs and stolen goods, which were earmarked to be sold on in Algeria.
According to the authorities, the criminal gang moved migrants from Africa to Spain in small boats known as pateras, and charged their victims as much as 5,000 euros to undertake the precarious crossing. The sophisticated operation even arranged for several boats to depart for Spain at the same time to make it more difficult for maritime police to intercept them all.
“In these searches, 17 boats, two vehicles, more than 48,000 euros in cash, 90,000 ecstasy pills, more than 600 grams of high-purity cocaine and mobile devices owned by those investigated and third-party victims of robberies have been intervened,” the statement of the Ministry of the Interior reads.
Of the 19 arrested, 16 have been remanded in custody charged with human rights violations and belonging to a criminal gang.
Throughout 2022 illegal migration to Spain dropped dramatically but thousands of desperate individuals continue to pay these illicit groups to facilitate their entry into the country each year.
More than half the migrants making their way to Spain illegally head for the Canary Islands, but an agreement made between Spain and Morocco on Western Sahara, in addition to a coordinated fight "against mafias that traffic people" means that around 40% are intercepted before setting out on the often deadly journey across the sea.
“The trips put the lives of migrants at serious risk due to the use of boats, many of them in poor condition and unsuitable for maritime journeys on the high seas,” the Ministry stressed.
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