Two networks of smugglers who sent several hundred illegal migrants to France from Morocco were dismantled in Spain, Spanish police announced on Friday.
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“The agents dismantled two alleged criminal organizations” which “would have facilitated the crossing into France of several hundred illegal migrants”, “of African origin”, and “generating significant profits”, said the national police in a report. communicated.
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“Fifteen people were arrested” in total, “including the two leaders”, in Madrid and in several towns in the north, including Irun, a border town located west of the Pyrenees and used by the two organizations, police said.
“The migrants arrived in boats at different places on the Spanish coast, where they were directed to various NGOs. It was there, or even before their exit from Morocco, that the networks captured them with the promise of moving them from Spain to France for sums of around 200 euros, ”the press release recounts.
To cross the border, one of the organizations used vehicles as far as Bayonne (south-west) and the other used bus lines at specific times.
“In both cases, the migrants went to an NGO in the French city or to a center where they waited to receive tickets on their phones to continue to their final destination in France or in other European countries”, adds the press release.
In Spain, the two organizations took them to Irun by bus or train thanks to a national network of collaborators.
Spain remains one of the main gateways for illegal immigration to Europe, although the number of arrivals fell by a third between January 1 and August 16 compared to the same period in 2019 , according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.
