Police in Spain Stop Paddle Boat Full of Migrants in Human Trafficking Operation

The National Police in Spain has dismantled a human trafficking network which transported migrants from Morocco to Spain’s Canary Islands.

This complex criminal organization organized at least 20 paddle boats from Morocco to the Canary Islands, achieving benefits of more than €350,000, and has 28 members from this network have been arrested.

The General Directorate of Police released a statement highlighting that more than 15 officers participated in the operation which was carried out in various parts of the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and the Peninsula.

28 arrests were made in total across the country, 12 in Fuerteventura, 6 in Lanzarote, 4 in Tenerife, 3 in Castellon, one in Gran Canarias, one in Ibiza, and one in Cataluña. They have all been arrested for belonging to a criminal organisation and for infringing on the rights of foreign citizens.

Officers managed to abort the departure of eight boats in Morocco towards the archipelago, one of which was about to leave with 34 migrants.