MIGRANTS who risked their lives on the high seas to reach Spain were kidnapped and held to ransom by a gang based in Algeciras (Cádiz province), the southernmost town on the mainland.
After following one of the most-frequented migration routes from the African continent to Europe by boat – normally having travelled overland from sub-Saharan Africa to northern Morocco – they would be targeted by the gang at the port and told them they would help reunite them with family members who had already travelled to Europe.
Lured by these promises, the migrants went with the gang to a house in Algeciras and shut into rooms, where they were interrogated.
The suspects, three men and two women - all Moroccans although one woman has a Spanish passport – sought to find out the migrants' financial status and where their families were based.
They also confiscated any possessions the immigrants had on them.
Once relatives were traced, they were contacted and ransom money was demanded, whilst the immigrants were kept captive.
The three men arrested are said to have been the material authors of the kidnap and ransom operations, whilst the two women kept a vigil over the hostages to prevent their escaping.
They have been denied bail and will remain in prison until their case comes to trial.
The photograph shows African migrants who sailed into southern Spain and were attended to at their port of arrival by the Red Cross.
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