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Canary Islands' largest human-trafficking racket broken up

 

Canary Islands' largest human-trafficking racket broken up

thinkSPAIN Team 21/10/2017

Canary Islands' largest human-trafficking racket broken up
A MAFIA-STYLE racket trafficking migrants to the Canary Islands has been busted after three years of investigations and its two ringleaders arrested.

An international arrest warrant was issued by a court in Telde in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for the main culprits, and a further 30 people thought to have crewed boats have been taken into custody.

The migrants were mostly sub-Saharan Africans and were brought over from El Aaiún (Laayoune), capital of the disputed Western Sahara territory, a city which is politically recognised as being in Morocco.

Mafia members were arrested by the Gendermerie in Morocco, whilst the boat crew were rounded up in Spain.

They may be charged with murder, which is likely to be reduced to manslaughter, since they are believed to be directly responsible for the deaths of at least eight Africans.

After interviewing around 1,500 migrants, police identified the racket leader, a Senegalese national who had managed to acquire and merge similar organisations thanks to his high-level political and police contacts, meaning he held a near-monopoly over the human-trafficking 'industry'.

National Police found out that the 32 arrested parties, part of the largest trafficking network involving the Canary Islands, were charging migrants between €500 and €3,000 per head for the perilous journey to European soil.

Many had spent their entire lives saving up for the trip in the hope of finding work in Europe and being able to send money home to keep their families from starvation.

 

 

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