Morocco _ Agencies
The Spanish Civil Guard on Monday announced the arrest of a network of smugglers claiming to be a "travel agency", which has brought to Spain some 600 Moroccan immigrants through the sea in 2018.
"The guards arrested a criminal organization that introduced 600 illegal immigrants this year from Morocco to Spain," the Civil Guard said in a statement, adding that "the investigation allowed the identification of the seven officials of that organization."
Spain and Morocco were the field of operations of network members who coordinated their work, "as if they were a travel agency receiving (immigrants) on the Spanish shore " and then guaranteed to "take a car to places where the police do not reach", and finally transfer people in particular to Catalonia or to the Basque Country.
Before the trip, immigrants had to pay some 2,500 euros, making the profits of this criminal organization reach about 1.5 million euros this year.
The attraction of Moroccan immigrants was mainly in the city of Laarach, north of Morocco, by the group´s head, a Moroccan citizen. The latter did not hesitate, according to the Civil Guard, to "exaggerate the description of the reception procedures " and "material proceeds " that people can obtain if they decide to migrate.
In Spain, two brothers, located in the cities of Cadiz and Palma de Mallorca, conducted operations, as well as another member who took the "strategic coverage" of migrants ´ access to Spain.
The Civil Guard noted that 136 people were arrested in 2018 as part of the fight against illegal immigration networks, 40 percent of them in the city of Cadiz.
The adverse weather conditions this year have not prevented migrants from moving from Morocco to Spain, crossing the Mediterranean.
This route of maritime migration is not relatively serious, with 1306 migrants spending this year trying to reach Italy and Malta, the most famous of which was the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which 55206 immigrants this year.
